ο»ΏIt was no secret that Giannis Antetokounmpo had a direct hand in selecting Mike Budenholzer’s replacement as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. Due to his organizational pillar status and unclear contract future, the two-time MVP actively participated in his team’s offseason coaching search. As a result, ownership gave Antetokounmpo significant influence over the coach that would lead the Bucks in the future.
After hiring Adrian Griffin then firing him on Tuesday, the organization is already looking for a new head coach eight months into the 2023β24 season. It appears that Doc Rivers will step down from the broadcast booth and take the helm in Milwaukee. It is reported that Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson will be given considerable consideration by Milwaukee if an agreement cannot be reached with the former head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics.AD
But it’s important to reflect on the events that led Griffin to Milwaukee in the first place before the Bucks name their third head coach in comfortably less than a year. NBA source Marc Stein claims that rather than Antetokounmpo’s clear preference for Griffin being the reason behind his decision to give management the go-ahead to hire him, the Greek Freak reportedly championed Griffin last spring in an effort to prevent the Bucks from hiring Nick Nurse.
Why did Antetokounmpo back Griffin with his support?
Given that Giannis and Griffin had never collaborated before, how did Griffin manage to secure such a high-profile endorsement? It would be more accurate, according to league sources now, to characterize the desire to play for Griffin as a resolve to play for someone other than Nick Nurse.
After the Bucks’ five-game thrashing at the hands of No. 8-seeded Miami in the first round of the previous season, which resulted in Budenholzer’s dismissal after five seasons in charge and, of course, Milwaukee’s first championship since 1971, Nurse was among the contenders high on their list. However, rumors have it that Antetokounmpo decided to support Griffin because he wanted the Bucks to take a different turn.
Bucks and AD Giannis Antetokounmpo should be sorry they didn’t hire Nick Nurse.
Shortly after leaving the Toronto Raptors, Nurse was one of the top contenders to replace Budenholzer in Milwaukee after the team’s heartbreaking elimination by the Miami Heat in the opening round of the playoffs the previous year. However, as the front office narrowed down its options to Nurse, Griffin, and Atkinson, he allegedly “pulled out” of the running for the head position with the Bucks. This led to rumors that the former had eyes for openings with the Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns or realized he was unlikely to land the job in Milwaukee.
Nurse was hired by the Sixers a few days after Griffin was acquired by the Bucks. After a revamped offensive attack that has propelled reigning MVP Joel Embiid to even greater heights and accelerated the ascent of rising star guard Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia has emerged as one of the league’s most pleasant surprises. Meanwhile, Milwaukee is frantically trying to replace Griffin with the man who came before Nurse in the City of Brotherly Love.
In league circles, Rivers is highly regarded as one of the best talent and ego managers in basketball, and he has won regular season games at several stops over his extensive coaching career. Even the 2008 Boston Celtics required two seven-game series to start their quest for the Larry O’Brien Trophy, but his teams have never overachieved in the postseason pressure cooker.
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Why Antetokounmpo opposed Nurse assuming the helm of the Bucks is a mystery. Maybe Antetokounmpo was alarmed by Nurse’s history in Toronto of wearing out star players with ridiculous minute totals, or maybe he had heard from other players that Nurse’s booming voice had become boring in the Raptors’ locker room.
In any case, it simply makes the Bucks’ already precarious situation worse. After the Griffin scandal was resolved, the world of basketball is aware of how much better Nurse has been with the Sixers this season than he has ever been, and this is why they are poised to pick Rivers as their next coach.
Selecting head coaches by hand has not shown to be a very successful strategy for elite athletes. Management would do well to have that truth in mind the next time a position opens up, wherever that may be.