Bucks’ Doc Rivers fires Giannis Antetokounmpo-favored coach

Coaches around the league have reportedly been caught by surprise by the Bucks’ decision to part ways with one coach in particular, Josh Oppenheimer, who was already with Milwaukee during Antetokounmpo’s first year in the league back in the 2013-2016 season (h/t Marc Stein).

“My podcast partner Chris Haynes, in a Bleacher Report live stream Friday, reported that the Bucks have also dismissed three assistant coaches inherited by Doc Rivers when he replaced Adrian Griffin in January: DJ Bakker, Sidney Dobner and Josh Oppenheimer,” Stein wrote.

“The departure of Oppenheimer, in particular, surprised some in NBA coaching circles because he is known to be a Giannis Antetokounmpo favorite.”

During Antetokounmpo’s first season in the NBA (and with the Bucks), Oppenheimer was a player development coach under then-head coach Larry Drew.

It appears that Antetokounmpo and Oppenheimer have developed a special bond through the years, especially since the latter was there to help the former adjust to the NBA environment during the then-budding star’s early years in the league. It’s hard to tell exactly how much the Bucks’ move to dismiss Oppenheimer impacts Antetokounmpo’s view of Milwaukee, but it must be unhappy news for the Greek Freak.

At the same time, his release from the Bucks gives Oppenheimer to explore more options in the NBA, if not abroad. Oppenheimer has basketball experience both as a player and as a part of a coaching staff overseas. He won a title in Isreal back in the 1990s and even had a chance to help coach the Greek National Team, thanks to Antetokounmpo.

Oppenheimer’s first stint with the Bucks lasted until 2016. He then went to the Houston Rockets as an assistant in the 2-16-17 season before going to the NBA G League to help out in coaching the Long Island Nets. He also spent time in the collegiate ranks as an assistant for the James Madison Dukes. Oppenheimer made his way back to the NBA in 2020 when Mike Budenholzer hired him.

Bucks are in the middle of a long offseason

In an ideal world for the Bucks, they would have still been playing at this point of the 2023-24 NBA season. Many expected them to. But things just did not go their way, with Milwaukee getting ejected from title contention by the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

Antetokounmpo was not able to play the entire Pacers series due to injury and Damian Lillard also missed games in the first round. The plan, of course, for Milwaukee is to bounce back stronger in the next season, but the Bucks will have to do that minus one of Antetokounmpo’s friends in Oppenheimer.