The Milwaukee Bucks have 30 wins. They are tied for the second-best record in the NBA. In Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard have two legitimate franchise superstars pushing for a championship.
None of that matters to head coach Adrian Griffin’s job security, apparently.
On Tuesday, the Bucks unceremoniously fired Griffin, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Smack dab in the middle of a 30-win season (at the halfway mark!), Milwaukee dismissed Griffin, seemingly hoping for an upgrade on the bench. Doc Rivers has already been mentioned as a distinct possibility to replace Griffin.
Even still: they fired the coach of a team with the second-best record in the NBA? WHAT?
BREAKING: The Milwaukee Bucks dismissed coach Adrian Griffin, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/UK1MGlKyrY
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 23, 2024
The Bucks are planning to quickly pursue a small pool of accomplished and available veteran head coaches — with Doc Rivers near the top of the list, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/1a5y77Dcvd
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 23, 2024
None of this shock is to say that Griffin was doing a terrific job. The Bucks sit in a great position in the standings, but were showing some fatal flaws that would be really tough to overcome this spring in the postseason.
Despite rostering All-NBA-caliber defenders like Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez, Milwaukee has the fifth-worst defensive rating in the Eastern Conference and the 22nd-worst in the NBA. Some of that is on poor personnel, and some of that is on coaching. On offense, the Bucks under Griffin too often devolved into a nonexistent two-man game between Antetokounmpo and Lillard. The two stars effectively “take turns” rather than running a conducive offense with a flow. It is a testament to their individual ability that the Bucks are still somehow second in offensive net rating.
Rivers might be the cure to what ails Milwaukee in another title push, but that is no guarantee. Between stints with the Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers, Rivers hasn’t coached a team to a Conference Finals appearance since 2012.
For now, Milwaukee must pick up the pieces after firing Griffin.
Twitter was stunned by the Bucks' sudden dismissal of Adrian Griffin
Knew he was cooked when Giannis started drawing up plays on the bench last night https://t.co/tJr4cYWPlm pic.twitter.com/kKe5wX2jIn
— fraser ramon (@SteveMerkle9) January 23, 2024
guess the regular season does matter https://t.co/l1qXDEg0Ji pic.twitter.com/b5WqKA28Ie
— PacersMuse (@PacersStatsMuse) January 23, 2024
Goddamn, the NBA is moving so insanely fast that two players scored over 60 last night and that's already three major news cycles ago! https://t.co/SknxQUgrxn
— Velodus✨ (@velodus) January 23, 2024
This is why Hurley should never leave to coach in the NBA. The Bucks are 30-13 and fired their head coach. There is absolutely zero job security in that league. https://t.co/B24SjWMY5K
— Alex – UConn 2023 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS (@aburks41) January 23, 2024
Giannis and Adrian Griffin pic.twitter.com/N4TpN0aPrQ
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) January 23, 2024
adrian griffin arriving to work this morning after winning 5 of 6 games and holding the 2nd best record in basketball pic.twitter.com/Pl4oyxPUes
— shea (@sheanorling) January 23, 2024
???
They're 30-13, the second best record in the East and NBA overall. What exactly did they expect from a first year head coach? https://t.co/N6nNPD9lsD— ForTheQynn (@ForTheQynn) January 23, 2024
I don’t know if firing Adrian Griffin ultimately pans out, but I do know he did not have the Bucks playing championship-level basketball very often and was not running particularly inspiring schemes on either end.
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) January 23, 2024
Hope Adrian Griffin didn’t buy a house in Milwaukee… pic.twitter.com/A1gP169voZ
— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) January 23, 2024
