The Milwaukee Bucks astonishingly fired Adrian Griffin midway through the season and replaced him with veteran coach Doc Rivers, who has since been at the helm for just 10 games.
Despite the Bucks owning the second best record in the Eastern Conference when the decision was made, the organization felt it was the right time to move on from Griffin, who was in his first year as the team’s coach.
Speaking on SiriusXM NBA Radio on Tuesday, Rivers admitted that he was befuddled by Milwaukee’s decision to move on from Griffin and even said as much to the organization.
“Personally, I’ll be honest, I told ownership when they called, ‘I don’t understand why you’re doing this,’” said Rivers of the team parting ways with Griffin.
“I told [Bucks ownership] ‘I don’t understand why you’re doing this.’”
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) February 20, 2024
Bucks HC Doc Rivers tells @TheFrankIsola & Ryan McDonough about his conversation with ownership after Adrian Griffin was let go
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“One of the things they said was, ‘Well it doesn’t matter, we’ve done it now, and we want you,’” explained Rivers. “And so that was a tough one, that’s where the hesitation...”
Griffin owned a 30-13 record in his 43-game stint as Milwaukee’s coach. Despite the solid start to the season, ownership seemingly didn’t feel confident with the first-year coach, prompting the shakeup that resulted in the Bucks hiring Doc Rivers.
Milwaukee is 3-7 in Rivers’ tenure as coach, having entered the All-Star break as losers of back-to-back games, including a defeat against a significantly undermanned Memphis Grizzlies team.
