Doc back on an NBA bench in Milwaukee
That didn’t take long.
Doc Rivers was hired as the Bucks’ head coach less than 24 hours after Milwaukee fired rookie head coach Adrian Griffin on Tuesday, ESPN confirmed Wednesday.
CNN first reported the pairing Tuesday night.
The former 76ers coach was the frontrunner for the job, according to multiple reports Tuesday, after the Bucks’ stunning decision to move on from Griffin.
Rivers returns to coaching after a brief stint as an analyst for ESPN this season and brings 25 years worth of experience to the Bucks’ bench.
“We wish Doc well and we look forward to documenting the next chapter of his coaching career,” David Roberts, ESPN head of event and studio production, said in a statement.
Rivers helped lead the Celtics to an NBA title in 2008 and most recently coached in Philadelphia for three seasons, but he was let go this past offseason after he failed to advance the team past the second round of the playoffs during his tenure.
Over a career that’s seen him coach the Magic, Celtics, Clippers and 76ers, Rivers has a 1,097-763 record.
Rivers takes over a Bucks team that entered Wednesday with a 30-13 mark and sat second in the Eastern Conference but has seen a steep decline in its defensive numbers compared to last season, sitting at 22nd in the league defensive efficiency.
Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix reported that several Bucks veterans, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, “had lost faith in Griffin.”
The Bucks made a franchise-altering trade to acquire Damian Lillard this offseason. Antetokounmpo had campaigned for Griffin to get the job after the team fired coach Mike Budenholzer, who guided the Bucks to the NBA title during the 2020-21 season, after being upset by eighth-seeded Miami in the first round
of the playoffs last year.