Milwaukee Bucks Hire Adrian Griffin as Head Coach

The Milwaukee Bucks will hire Toronto Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin as their new head coach, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The Bucks fired long-time head coach Mike Budenholzer this spring after a disappointing first-round exit from the 2023 NBA Playoffs at the hands of the Miami Heat.

Griffin played 9 seasons in the NBA between 1999 and 2008, suiting up for the Dallas Mavericks, Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, and (then) Seattle Supersonics.

He served for two years as an assistant coach for the Bucks under then head coach Scott Skiles before moving to the same role with Tom Thibodeau and the Chicago Bulls for five seasons. He spent a year as an assistant coach with the Orlando Magic in 2015, another with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016, before joining the Raptors and Head Coach Nick Nurse in 2018. He was part of Toronto’s NBA Championship season in 2019.

This will be Griffin’s first head coaching position. He takes over a team that earned a league-best 58 wins last season before falling 1-4 to the Heat in their first playoffs series. The Bucks won an NBA title themselves in 2021 with perpetual MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the charge.