The Milwaukee Bucks have reached out to Doc Rivers and are engaging in conversations with him about possibly becoming their next head coach, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Bucks are searching for a replacement for Adrian Griffin, their first-year head coach whom they fired Tuesday despite a 30-13 start. The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday that Rivers had served as an informal consultant to Griffin at the organization’s behest earlier in the season. Now, he has a chance to potentially replace him.
Rivers is one of the most experienced coaches in recent NBA history. He has coached a total of 24 seasons for the Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers, and he won a championship for the Celtics in 2008. He won the 1999-2000 NBA Coach of the Year award in Orlando and has reached the postseason 19 times.
Yet Rivers’ postseason shortcomings are responsible for his current availability. He was fired by the Clippers after blowing a 3-1 lead in the 2020 playoffs to the Denver Nuggets, and his three-year stint in Philadelphia included an upset second-round loss at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks and a blown 3-2 lead to the Boston Celtics last season. Seven teams have lost series in which they led 3-1 this century, and Rivers coached three of them.
Rivers is currently broadcasting for ESPN, but he was always going to draw interest in the coaching market again eventually. The Bucks tried to compete for a championship with a rookie at the helm and ultimately came up short. If Rivers is indeed their choice to replace Griffin, they will be replacing one of the league’s least experienced head coaches with one of its most experienced moving forward.