The Milwaukee Bucks may have already had their play called in the huddle when they fired Adrian Griffin.
Milwaukee made the absolutely stunning decision on Tuesday to dismiss their rookie head coach Griffin after just 43 games in charge. The Bucks are a stellar 30-13 on the season (second in the East) but will now move ahead with Joe Prunty as their interim coach.
The decision appears to have been made with a replacement already in mind though. The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports that Doc Rivers has emerged as a serious candidate to become the next head coach of Milwaukee. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN also says that Rivers is “near the top of the list” for the Bucks.
Rivers, 62, is one of the biggest names in the NBA coaching business. He is currently working as an analyst for ESPN this season after getting fired by the Philadelphia 76ers.
While Rivers is a former NBA champion head coach (with the Boston Celtics in 2008) and a one-time NBA Coach of the Year (with the Orlando Magic in 2000), he is notorious for his playoff failures in more recent years and his fairly bland offensive principles. Many would probably even argue that going from Griffin, a young head coach with plenty of room to grow, to Rivers, a veteran head coach seemingly set in his ways, would be a big downgrade for the Bucks. Rivers even apparently had players from Philadelphia taking shots at him after he got fired.
Nevertheless, Rivers is as seasoned as they come with nearly two-and-a-half decades of head coaching experience and 1,097 career wins under his belt. Milwaukee seems to think that Rivers will be a better option to lead their win-now team moving forward.
