Terry Stotts’ third tour of duty with the Milwaukee Bucks turned out to be a brief one.
Per a report by Adrian Wojnarowski, Stotts has stepped down as Bucks assistant coach with the regular season just a few days away.
Terry was one of the veteran coaches that the Bucks brought in to assist head coach Adrian Griffin, who filled the void vacated by Mike Budenholzer.
Budenholzer was dismissed shortly after the Bucks’ shock first-round exit last season.Stotts was with the Bucks in their recent preseason road trip that saw the team play in Memphis, Los Angeles, and Oklahoma City.
Milwaukee will be playing its last preseason game on Friday when they host the Memphis Grizzlies. Wojnarowski added that it was not immediately known if Griffin would bring in someone to replace Stotts.
Short reunion with Dame
The 65-year-old Stotts was out of the league for a few seasons before he was hired by the Bucks last June. Terry coached the Portland Trail Blazers for nine years and led the team to eight playoff appearances.
In his return to Milwaukee, Stotts reunited with the newest Bucks star Damian Lillard, who he coached in Portland. Dame has indicated that his transition to the Bucks has become easier, as many of the set plays were run during their time with Terry in Portland.
A familiar face in Milwaukee
Stotts’ first stint in Milwaukee was in 1998 when he was named as an assistant coach of George Karl. Terry then transferred to Atlanta in 2002, where he earned his first head coaching job.
Stotts returned to Bucks in 2005 and coached the team for two seasons. He left the Bucks in the 2006-07 season and moved to Dallas as an assistant coach. From Dallas, Terry went to Portland, where he was the head coach from 2012 to 2021.
With Stotts as their head coach, the Trail Blazers went 402-318 and made it to the Western Conference Finals in the 2018-19 season.
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