Just over a week after the Bucks’ season ended with a bitterly disappointing first-round loss to the Heat, Milwaukee has parted ways with coach Mike Budenholzer, ending Budenholzer’s five-year run with the franchise.
“The decision to make this change was very difficult,” Bucks general manager Jon Horst said. “Bud helped lead our team for five incredible seasons, to the Bucks’ first title in 50 years, and into an era of sustained success. We are grateful for the culture of winning and leadership that Bud helped create in Milwaukee.”
Why it happened: A first-round exit. Miami was not a typical No. 8 seed and Milwaukee was without Giannis Antetokounmpo for two games in that series and most of a third. But the Bucks lost all three games Antetokounmpo played and Budenholzer’s questionable coaching decisions in Game 5—keeping Brook Lopez on the bench late in regulation, not using either of his timeouts in overtime—contributed to the outcome.
There was some thought after the season that Budenholzer’s earned equity with the team—specifically his leadership in Milwaukee’s 2021 title-winning season—would earn him another year. And it’s worth noting that Budenholzer coached with a heavy heart after one of his three brothers tragically died in a car accident before Game 4. But his job security has long been tenuous. If the Bucks had lost the second-round series to the Nets in ’21—a series Brooklyn came a Kevin Durant foot on the three-point line from winning in Game 7—it’s widely believed Budenholzer would have been fired. Ultimately, becoming just the sixth No. 1 seed to lose in the first round to a No. 8 gave Horst enough reason to make a change.
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