Bucks dismiss head coach Adrian Griffin

It’s a shocking turn of events for a Bucks team whose 30-13 record is tied for second-best in the NBA and for Griffin, who is in his first year as a head coach, having been hired by Milwaukee last June. 

The former Raptors assistant reportedly had the support of two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo at the time of his hiring.

Still, while the Bucks have an excellent record and the NBA’s second-best offensive rating (120.6), the club’s defensive performance has fallen off sharply under Griffin. Milwaukee’s 116.8 defensive rating ranks 22nd in the league; last season, the team had the NBA’s fourth-best defense.

Even beyond the Bucks’ defensive struggles, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing in Milwaukee so far this season. Griffin’s top assistant coach, Terry Stotts, unexpectedly stepped down from his position just before the regular season began; Antetokounmpo and Griffin had a heated on-court disagreement in November; and Bobby Portis reportedly challenged the head coach during a locker room meeting following December’s In-Season Tournament quarterfinal loss to Indiana.

According to Chris Mannix of SI.com, there have been “steady rumblings” in NBA circles in recent weeks that multiple Bucks veterans, including Giannis, have been losing faith in the first-time head coach.

We’ll likely hear more details in the coming hours or days about why the Bucks felt the need to make a change, but the move feels reminiscent of the 30-11 Cavaliers replacing David Blatt during the 2015-16 season. 

In that instance, the team recognized that things weren’t quite right with Blatt at the helm and made a move in hopes of increasing its championship upside — Cleveland won the title a few months later.

Bucks assistant Joe Prunty is expected to take over for Griffin on an interim basis, reports Wojnarowski.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN observes, this will be the third time that Prunty has taken over as an interim head coach during a season. He also did in Milwaukee following the firing of Jason Kidd and last season in Atlanta after Nate McMillan was let go.

Prunty likely won’t be the long-term answer in Milwaukee, though. Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and Shams Charania of The Athletic both say that Doc Rivers is a strong contender for the permanent job, while Wojnarowski tweets that the Bucks are expected to look at a pool of “accomplished and available” veteran coaches, including Rivers.

The Bucks’ next game is on Wednesday at home vs. the Cavaliers.