The Milwaukee Bucks have completed one of the most important items on their offseason to-do list: finalizing their coaching staff. If one wonders why assembling a group of coaches is so important to a team’s success, one will just have to look at what happened in Milwaukee last season.
After initially hiring Adrian Griffin as their head coach, the Bucks surrounded him with several notable veteran assistant coaches, notably former head coach Terry Stotts. The former Bucks head coach did not last long, though, as he resigned his position following a dispute with Griffin during a preseason practice.
Of course, Griffin himself was not long for Milwaukee either. The Bucks fired him after 43 games despite being 30-13 at the time. Doc Rivers replaced him and brought in a few of his own assistant coaches. He used the final 36 games of the season to evaluate which of Griffin’s assistant coaches he wanted to retain going forward.
Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach Doc Rivers Has Finalized His Coaching Staff
Earlier this offseason, Rivers made the decision to fire assistant coaches Josh Oppenheimer, Sidney Dobner, and DJ Bakker. The dismissal of Oppenheimer, in particular, reportedly made superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo upset.
However, Rivers made the very popular decision to bring Darvin Ham, who previously left the Bucks to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, back to Milwaukee. According to reports, Giannis had a role in that decision.
At the Bucks’ press conference on Tuesday, which was held to introduce their two new draft picks AJ Johnson and Tyler Smith, Rivers also announced that his coaching staff was complete:
- Darvin Ham
- Jason Love
- Greg Buckner
- Dave Joerger
- Rex Kalamian
- Pete Dominguez
- Spencer Rivers
- Joe Prunty
- Vin Baker
As seen above, both Prunty and Baker, both of whom are very popular among Bucks fans, are the only two coaches from Griffin’s staff that are being retained.
Patrick Mutombo and Trevor Gleason were dismissed.
Some Notes on Doc Rivers’ Milwaukee Bucks Coaching Staff
Prunty, of course, was the interim head coach in Milwaukee after Griffin was fired. The Bucks went 2-1 in the three games in which he served as head coach. Prunty also was the Bucks’ interim head coach after they fired Jason Kidd.
Spencer Rivers is the son of Doc Rivers. He coached on Monty Williams’ staff with the Detroit Pistons last year.
Pete Dominguez will coach the Bucks’ summer league team.
Rivers’ top assistants (the front of the bench) will be Ham, Joerger, and Buckner.
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