Bucks Hire Doc Rivers as Head Coach After Firing Adrian Griffin

The Milwaukee Bucks have wasted no time replacing the fired Adrian Griffin, with the franchise announcing they’ve hired Doc Rivers as head coach. Griffin was released from his duties in a shock dismissal that comes with the team ranked second in the Eastern Conference standings with a 30-13 record.

It was reported soon after that Rivers was being tossed up as a possible replacement, news that was confirmed just over six hours after Griffin was sacked.

Rivers has been in the broadcast booth this season since he was let go from his head coaching role at the Philadelphia 76ers after a loss in the conference semifinals last May to the Boston Celtics. In addition to his broadcasting responsibilities, Rivers was serving as an informal consultant to Griffin. A month later, he is replacing Griffin.

Griffin, 49, was appointed in June after the abrupt sacking of predecessor Mike Budenholzer, who was ditched after the Bucks crashed out of last season’s playoffs in the first round. There had been few clues that Griffin’s position was under threat, with the Bucks making a solid start to the season that has left them with a 30-13 record — the second best winning percentage in the league.

Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix reported on Wednesday in the wake of the news that there “have been steady rumblings for weeks in NBA circles that several Bucks veterans, including Giannis, had lost faith in Griffin”. “What appeared to be [a] smart hire last spring just never worked out,” he added.

ESPN’s NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski described it as an “agonizing decision” for the Bucks, who made the call in a bid to maximize the team’s championship window. “They were very fond of Adrian Griffin and gave him his first head coaching opportunity this offseason,” he said on ESPN’s ‘NBA Today’. “But they looked at where this team was, how it was responding under Griffin, although the second-best record right now … they have such a tight championship window with Giannis Antetokounmpo [and] certainly the Damian Lillard trade, which happened after they hired Adrian Griffin as head coach.

Former teammate and player under Griffin, Richard Jefferson, described the news as “shocking” but he too echoed the fact that the Bucks didn’t have the time to be patient. “It’s championship or bust, especially when you get an individual like Dame added to your roster, so that there became difficult,” he said on ‘NBA Today’. “I don’t think this is an indictment as much on Adrian Griffin’s ability to coach. I think it was more of with this group, with their timetable as a very young, new coach that is what makes it difficult.”

While Milwaukee sits second in the Eastern Conference with a 30-13 record, there were serious doubts over the team’s ability to push fellow contenders Boston and Philadelphia in a best-of-seven series given its suspect defense. The Bucks rank 22nd in the league in defensive rating and have the toughest remaining schedule in the league according to Tankathon, which further inflates their start to the season.

“The reality is, we talk about this so much on this program, if you want to be a championship team you need to have a championship defense,” two-time WNBA All-Star Chiney Ogwumike said on ‘NBA Today’. “At least in the top 10. Last year, the Milwaukee Bucks had a championship defense, they were fourth in defense. This year they’re 22nd [in defensive efficiency] and particularly in January they’ve been 27th. No