Milwaukee Bucks hire former Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin as new head coach

The Milwaukee Bucks have finally found a right fit for their head coach vacancy and decided to hire Adrian Griffin for the job. This decision comes only weeks after they sacked Mike Budenholzer, who had a rather succesful run with the Wisconsin franchise, but failed to reach NBA Finals in recent years.

The new trainer has just become the team’s 17th head coach in Bucks’ history, and is bringing with him 15 campaigns of experience on NBA coaching, the last five sitting as an assistant in the Toronto Raptors bench.

“Adrian is a widely-respected coach and former player, who brings great leadership and experience to our team,” expressed Milwaukee’s general manager Jon Horst. “His championship-level coaching pedigree, character, basketball acumen and ability to connect with and develop players make him the ideal choice to lead our team. He has earned this opportunity.”

While part of Toronto’s coaching staff, the Canadian team always reached the NBA’s top 10 best defensive rating, allowing the least points per match during four of those five seasons.

Most importantly, he contributed to the development of the squad’s young talent and guided one to become the NBA Rookie of the Year, another the league’s Most Improved Player and four athletes to make six All-Star selections.

“I’m incredibly honored and grateful to Wes, Jamie, Dee, Jimmy and Jon to be named the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks,” said Griffin after signing the deal. “The Bucks are a championship organization and I’m thrilled to work with an established roster of high character and talented players. I’m excited to be back in Milwaukee and I can’t wait to get started.”

Before he joined the Raptors, the former NBA player also assisted Oklahoma City Thunder’s coaching staff for two seasons. Prior to that, he stopped in Orlando to provide the same services for the Magic back in 2015/16. Also, one of his longest tenures came from training the Chicago Bulls from 2010 to 2015.

Curious as it is, Griffin is returning home. His 15-year career coaching in the league all started in Milwaukee back in 2008. In all this time, he’s made the playoffs 11 times, was part of two Conference Finals, and was crowned an NBA champion with Toronto back in 2019.

Team superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo reportedly also wanted Griffin to become Milwaukee’s head coach

“I think that Griffin is going to get the Milwaukee job because Giannis wants him,” said John Gambadoro from Arizona Sports a couple of weeks ago. “They want to keep Giannis and they want to keep Giannis happy. Adrian Griffin is his choice. That’s who he wants.”

The Kansas native played professional basketball in the NBA during nine campaigns, playing for the Celtics, Mavericks, Rockets, Bulls and SuperSonics from 1999 to 2008.

Bucks co-owners Wes Edens, Jamie Dinan and Dee and Jimmy Haslam also gave their take on why Griffin is the perfect fit. “Adrian is well-regarded throughout the NBA, and we believe that his vast experience working under and playing for successful head coaches makes him the right person to guide our team in competing for championships,” they declared.

“Following a widespread coaching search, we are extremely impressed by Adrian’s leadership and communication skills and welcome him to the Bucks family,” the statement concluded.