The Milwaukee Bucks have underachieved this season despite landing future Hall of Famer Damian Lillard this past summer, and it led to Adrian Griffin being fired as head coach on Tuesday.
Griffin had just been hired during the offseason after they had fired Mike Budenholzer following an ugly exit in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs at the hands of the Miami Heat.
After Budenholzer left, the Bucks reportedly had lots of interest in hiring Nick Nurse, but Giannis Antetokounmpo was against the idea, per Marc Stein via NBACentral.
Giannis Antetokounmpo reportedly didn’t want Nick Nurse, per @TheSteinLine
“League sources say now that the desire to play for Griffin is better described as a determination to play for someone other than Nick Nurse. Nurse was among the candidates that the Bucks had high on… pic.twitter.com/tUAxZtpwyV
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) January 23, 2024
Nurse himself had been fired by the Toronto Raptors after last season, and he was ultimately hired by the Philadelphia 76ers.
With the 76ers, Nurse is doing a fine job, as they’re now just half a game behind the Bucks, who are clinging to second place in the Eastern Conference.
Back in 2019, Nurse’s Raptors overcame a 2-0 series deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals to knock off Antetokounmpo’s Bucks en route to their first NBA championship.
The Bucks’ top target for their next head coach is reportedly Doc Rivers, who coached the Sixers the last three seasons until being canned last May after they blew a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Boston Celtics.
Although Milwaukee is second in the league in offensive rating, they’re just 22nd in defensive rating, which presumably led to Griffin, a first-time head coach, losing his job.
In 2021, when they won the world title, they were ninth in defensive rating while finishing first in that category during the postseason.
NEXT:
Insider Details Why The Bucks Fired Adrian Griffin