The Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday fired Adrian Griffin as their head coach and replaced him with former NBA champion head coach Doc Rivers. The move hasn’t exactly gotten the highest approval rating so far.
A handful of fans on X dunked on the Bucks for hiring Rivers, whose teams have underperformed in the playoffs over the last decade.
Even one rival NBA executive echoed the fan sentiment. The exec reportedly texted CBS Sports’ Bill Reiter the following after news of Rivers’ hiring broke:
“And the other Eastern Conference contenders breathe easier,” the exec wrote.
Rivers won a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008 but has failed to recreate that magic in his succeeding stints with the Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers.
Rivers has coached his team to the playoffs in nine of the last ten seasons. However, those Rivers-led squads didn’t make much noise when they got there. Three of those teams succumbed to a first-round exit. The six others failed to advance past the conference semifinals.
The 62-year-old coach’s name has grown synonymous with postseason futility of late. He has been on the wrong end of three blown 3-1 series leads — the most in NBA history. He also owns the dishonorable distinction of having the most Game 7 losses as a coach with ten.
But Rivers does inherit a Bucks team that has championship-proven players at its disposal. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, Pat Connaughton, and Bobby Portis represent five of Milwaukee’s six leading scorers during their the 2021 NBA Finals. Jrue Holiday is gone, but known clutch performer Damian Lillard has taken his place.
How far the Bucks go under the tutelage of Rivers this season will definitely be a storyline to watch come April.
