The Milwaukee Bucks' decision to fire first-year head coach Adrian Griffin on Tuesday wasn't an overnight decision.
This was the result of months of disappointing play with increasing internal concern over the sharp decline of their once-elite defense, the misuse of newcomer Damian Lillard alongside franchise centerpiece Giannis Antetokounmpo and widespread fear that this group was widely expected to be competing for a title probably wouldn't be enough if Milwaukee held out.
There were strong signs that change was coming as early as the in-season tournament in December, when the Bucks lost to the Indiana Pacers in Las Vegas and internal skepticism about Griffin's leadership skills grew.
League sources say Doc Rivers, who is an ESPN analyst after being fired by the Philadelphia 76ers last May, served as an informal adviser to Griffin at the behest of the Bucks. A month later, multiple sources briefed on the matter suggest that Rivers is the serious leader for the now-vacant position and the preferred choice of key stakeholders.
Doc Rivers, in his second stint as an ESPN broadcaster, won an NBA title with the Celtics in 2008 and coached them to a Finals appearance in 2010. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Bucks have begun discussions with Rivers to become the franchise's new head coach, league sources said. Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson, who finished second to Griffin in the Bucks' head coaching search last year, is also a candidate for the job if the team can't reach a deal with Rivers.
Things arose early this season for Griffin, the 49-year-old who spent the past 15 seasons as an NBA assistant for five teams after a nine-year NBA playing career. His inauspicious start first gained national attention when first-year assistant coach Terry Stotts resigned on October 19, 2023, a day before the team's preseason finale.
Stotts' decision came about for myriad reasons, but any underlying issues seemed to come to a head after a brief verbal altercation during a shooting in Oklahoma City on Oct. 17, 2023, first reported by The Athletic.
League sources said that Stotts, who was Lillard's coach in Portland during his first nine seasons there, and Griffin never saw eye to eye about his role and responsibilities as an assistant, and the disrespect Stotts felt in that situation was the straw , which was the final straw. Regardless of why Stotts made the move, the idea that Griffin's coaching staff would lose its most experienced voice was an undeniable setback.
With Stotts no longer in the picture and the Bucks still searching for their identity as they reached the semifinals of the in-season tournament, the franchise turned to Rivers to serve as an experienced coach and help Griffin find a path to find your way forward through the season.
While the Bucks had a 15-6 record before traveling to Las Vegas, management arranged a meeting between Griffin and Rivers, who was broadcasting in-season tournament games for ESPN. According to league sources, the organization believed that Rivers, a 24-year NBA head coach and champion with the Celtics in 2008, could provide Griffin with advice and guidance on how to navigate his first NBA season with high expectations and a championship-caliber team can master.
After the Bucks' disappointing loss to the Pacers in Las Vegas, Milwaukee ended a seven-game winning streak and appeared to steady the ship with a solid four-game road trip around Christmas. But problems arose again in the new year. According to team sources, players began to question Griffin's plans on both ends of the court and the strategy presented to them each night.
While players were willing to be patient with Griffin, as he had learned on the job, due to the team's major personnel changes early in the season, their questions became more important as the team failed to show significant growth midway through the season.
According to team sources, the issues that plagued Griffin's early tenure ranged from developing strong plans on both ends of the court so the Bucks could reach their championship potential to successfully communicating his vision to his players so they could execute it on the court . But given the high stakes of this Bucks era, concerns about Griffin's abilities became too big a question for senior leadership to withstand any longer.
The Bucks have struggled on defense all season after being among the league's best defensive teams for five straight seasons under former coach Mike Budenholzer. As of Tuesday morning, the Bucks ranked 22nd in defensive rating with 116.8 points per 100 possessions, but frustrations with the team's defense had reached a boiling point following a 122-116 loss to the Houston Rockets on Jan. 6.
GO DEEPER
'There was no pride': Giannis Antetokounmpo blasts Bucks defense after loss to Rockets
After that loss, Antetokounmpo lamented the Bucks' defensive problems for seven and a half minutes.
“Now we have to have a plan defensively,” he said. “What is our strategy? Will we give out a lot of open 3s? Do we let them penetrate the paint? Do we then stay with ourselves and play one-on-one? What is our strategy?
“At the moment we are giving everything. We give everything. We give the 3s. We offer straight-ahead driving. We let the boys play in the post and get comfortable. We give offensive rebounds.”
The frustration continued on Jan. 17, when the Bucks suffered a 40-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were without Antetokounmpo because of a bruised right shoulder. A team that started the season riding on the success of the Lillard trade began to decline. It was the fifth loss in a nine-game span, with back-to-back losses to the Bucks' newest rivals, the Pacers, earlier in the month and the humiliating loss to the Cavs only making things worse.
More importantly, the Cavs' game was the latest evidence that the Bucks aren't as good as many people expected – including some crucial ones – given their defense, which under Budenholzer has been such a key part of their title-contending season had slacked off decision-makers within the Bucks.
With a record of 30-13, the Bucks are just 3.5 games behind the Boston Celtics for first place in the Eastern Conference. But nearly three years after they won a title for the first time in half a century and Antetokounmpo again demonstrated his faith in their franchise over the summer by signing a three-year extension worth $186 million, it's long gone Higher Standard Achieved plays in Milwaukee. It’s not enough to win regular season games.
By firing Budenholzer, the NBA's winningest coach from 2018 to 2023, the Bucks made it clear that Griffin is expected to compete for championships. In hiring Griffin, they took a calculated risk and chose a coach who would inevitably need time to develop as a head coach. But Griffin's countless growing pains led to his death. The embarrassing loss to the Cavs appears to have been a turning point.
With the newest owner, Jimmy Haslam, in the building, it served as a living reminder of the questions Griffin struggled to answer. The Bucks, who had spent so many nights trying to find the synergy between their dynamic duo of Lillard and Antetokounmpo, looked lost as they tried to figure out how to build an offensive attack without their franchise centerpiece.
It could have been the perfect time to let go of Lillard so he could enjoy the kind of offensive freedom he was used to all those years in Portland, and that was much harder to find in his Bucks experience. After the Cavs took a 22-2 lead in the first quarter, Lillard finished the game with just 17 points on 7 of 20 shooting remaining, five assists and a minus-26.
Khris Middleton, the Bucks' three-time All-Star who has had a difficult adjustment period this season, missed 9 of 10 shots and was minus-40. The list went on from there. And while Antetokounmpo was absent, it was the kind of outing that undoubtedly hurt Griffin's cause. Victories over the weak Detroit Pistons followed on Saturday and Monday, but the team's poor performance in both games did little to ease the growing unrest within the organization.
Overall, the Bucks have performed well on offense this season. Averaging 124.2 points per game and 120.5 points per 100 possessions, they were the second most effective and efficient offense in the league, behind only the Pacers. While they've been successful in scoring, the offense itself has been a bit disjointed as the Bucks have tried to combine the offensive skills of Antetokounmpo and Lillard.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard put up big numbers, but the offense didn't always work. (Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images)
League sources also said that Lillard has struggled with the way the Bucks operate on offense for most of this season. While he has remained patient with coaches and teammates, Griffin has inevitably faced pressure from the organization to get the most out of Lillard's talent, prompting the decision to part ways with Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen and three first-round picks to sign him , confirmed.
For the season, Lillard's usage rate of 26.9 is not only well below his final season in Portland (a career-high 33.1), but also well below Antetokounmpo's rate of 32.2, which ranks third in the NBA place (which is below his league level). Best score of 37.3 last season). Middleton is third on the Bucks with 23.6.
Despite being one of only eight players to average at least 25 points, six assists and four rebounds this season, Lillard has seen his efficiency take a hit. From his overall field goal percentage (46.3 to 42.7) to this three-point performance (37.1 to 35.1), he is no longer the shooter he was before.
Since December 21st, Lillard's scoring has dropped to 23.5 points per game and he is shooting just 40.4 percent from the field and 31 percent from three. Griffin's inability to create more harmony on the court between his best players on offense remained a point of contention until Griffin's demise.
On the other end of the floor, the Bucks' problems were even more obvious. Some were at least partially expected due to the massive changes in the team's defensive personnel.
Entering the season, Griffin ran an aggressive defensive game plan that was very similar to the units he led as a top assistant and defensive coordinator under Nick Nurse in Toronto. However, after a 130-111 loss in Toronto in the fourth game of the season, a group of veteran players went to Griffin and told him that such an aggressive plan would not suit their staff and suggested 2023 NBA prospect Brook Lopez Defensive Player of the Year: Return to playing drop coverage on pick-and-rolls and staying closer to the rim on defensive possessions rather than catching or switching near the 3-point line.
Lopez's change in responsibilities has helped the Bucks stabilize defensively after a difficult start to the season, but they are still struggling to consistently orchestrate stops. Up to this point in the season, Griffin and his staff had not found a way to get around their personnel problems and properly capitalize on the defensive strengths of Lopez and Antetokounmpo, a five-time NBA All-Defensive Team honoree and 2020 Defensive Player of the Year.
After Antetokounmpo's impassioned plea for better defense, the Bucks gave up 132 points and lost to the Utah Jazz (16th in offensive rating), their fourth loss in five games. They bounced back from the loss to the Jazz with a commanding 135-102 win over the Boston Celtics, who were playing their fifth game in seven nights and have now won five of their last six games. However, this stretch of play includes the aforementioned blowout loss in Cleveland and a win on Saturday in which the Bucks allowed 135 points against the 4-38 Detroit Pistons. In January, the Bucks allowed 122.1 points per 100 possessions, which ranked them 28th in defensive rating for the month.
With Griffin gone, the Bucks must now find a way to correct their course and get to a point where they believe they can win an NBA championship this season.
Related Reading
Take: The Bucks appear lost without Antetokounmpo after a sloppy loss to the Cavaliers
Take and Partnow: Breaking down the Bucks' defense: What went right, what went wrong
Take: The Bucks hear boos at home as the defense is destroyed again in the loss to the Jazz
(Top photo by Adrian Griffin: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)