Getting to know new Milwaukee Bucks head coach Taylor Jenkins

So what does Jenkins bring to the table for the Bucks?

First, there's experience with the franchise.

Jenkins, 41, was an assistant for Milwaukee under Mike Budenholzer in 2018-19. The Bucks finished that season with 60 wins, best in the NBA, and they were the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference for the first time in 45 years. 

Before that, Jenkins was a top assistant under Budenholzer with the Atlanta Hawks (2013-2018).

Taylor Jenkins has history as a winning head coach in the NBA

Of course, Jenkins' big-time experience came as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies 

He was stolen from the Grizzlies away from the Bucks in June 2019 and he went 250-214 in six seasons.

In 2022, Jenkins led the Grizzlies to their first Southwest Division title in franchise history. They made the postseason three seasons in a row, from 2020-21 to 2022-23, and they beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 4-2, in the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs.

The Grizzlies didn't make the playoffs in 2023-24 or 2024-25, and Jenkins was fired just nine games before the 2025 playoffs began. It was a shocking firing considering all that Jenkins had accomplished in Memphis, but that's the modern NBA.

He left as the winningest coach in Grizzlies history, and now the Bucks get the chance to see if he can bring himself back up to those heights now that he's had a year off to re-envision his career.

Expectations are much higher in Milwaukee, though. First-round wins are great, but championships are the goal for the Bucks as long as they have Antetokounmpo.