Doc Rivers has reached an agreement to become the next coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.
Doc Rivers reached agreement to become the next coach of the Milwaukee Buckssources told ESPN on Wednesday.
Riversan ESPN NBA analyst who recently led the Philadelphia 76ers to three consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference semifinals, emerged as a top target immediately after the sacking of Adrian Griffin. The sides negotiated late into the night Tuesday and into Wednesday morning before reaching an agreement, the sources said.
Doc Rivers has reached an agreement to become the next coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. David Dow/NBAE/Getty Images
Despite the second best record in the Eastern Conference, The Bucks fired Griffin just 43 games into his head coaching career.largely because the organization came to believe they could find an upgrade in the coaching position that would give them a better chance to compete for a championship, sources said.
Based on Rivers’ accomplishments and availability, general manager Jon Horst planned to pursue him and convinced him to take the job to pursue his second NBA title as a coach.
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The Bucks believe Rivers’ history of coaching star tandems makes him uniquely suited to maximize Giannis Antetokounmpo y Damian Lillard together.
Rivers has a long history in Milwaukeewhere he was an All-American shooting guard for Marquette in the early 1980s.
He has had 16 consecutive winning seasons since winning the NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 2008., a streak only surpassed by Gregg Popovich, Phil Jackson and Pat Riley, according to ESPN Stats & Information. His 1,097 regular season wins are ninth most in NBA history and his 111 playoff wins are fourth all time.
Rivers has obstacles to overcome in the postseason, including 10 career Game 7 losses and a streak that includes five straight losses. He has also lost nine straight games with a chance to reach the conference finals, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
However, Rivers has the opportunity to strengthen the Bucks’ defense and keep them in the fight for the number one spot in the Eastern Conference. After being fired in Philadelphia at the end of last season, Rivers was the runner-up to Frank Vogel for the NFL coaching job. Phoenix Sunssources said, before accepting the analyst position on ESPN and ABC’s coverage of NBA games.
Griffin had a 30-13 record (.698), but the Bucks had fallen from fourth to 22nd in defensive efficiency from the previous year, although some of that had to be attributed to the loss of the All-Star point guard. Jrue Holiday.
Under immense expectations, Griffin was hired to replace Mike Budenholzer in June and was tasked with adding his system to a team of veteran stars. Horst has believed that Griffin will become a good NBA head coach, but he had lost confidence that he could do so within the timeline of the Bucks’ immediate championship window, sources said.
2024-01-24 16:43:17
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