The Milwaukee Bucks officially announced Monday the hiring of Griffin to replace Mike Budenholzer, who was fired last month following a first-round loss to the Miami Heat. Reports surfaced on April 29 that the Bucks were finalizing the deal with Griffin.
The introductory press conference will take place on Tuesday.
Griffin spent the last five seasons as an assistant for the Toronto Raptors under Nick Nurse, who was also fired after the season and was later signed by the Philadelphia 76ers. Griffin’s coaching career began as an assistant to Scott Skiles with the Bucks from 2008-10.
“The Bucks are a championship organization and I am excited to work to establish a roster with character and talent,” Griffin said in a statement released by the team. “I’m excited to be back in Milwaukee and can’t wait to get started.”
Griffin, 48, began his coaching career after nine years as an NBA player with the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls and Seattle SuperSonics.
He was also an assistant with Chicago, Orlando and Oklahoma City before joining Toronto.
“Adrian is a respected coach and former player who will bring leadership and experience to the team,” general manager Jon Horst said in a statement.
Griffin will be challenged to replace a coach who led the Bucks to their first title in 50 years.
Budenholzer had the league’s best regular-season record after five 271-120 seasons and coached the team that won its first title since 1971 in 2021.
The Bucks decide to change coaches because their postseason fortunes didn’t match their regular-season success under Budenholzer.
The Bucks had the best record in the league in three of Budenholzer’s five seasons, but didn’t make it past the conference finals in any of those three years.
