The Milwaukee Bucks‘ 2023-24 season did not go nearly as well as the organization had planned during last offseason. Head coach Mike Budenholzer was fired after the team failed to make it out of the first round of the NBA Playoffs, and Adrian Griffin was hired to be his successor. According to reports, Griffin was the hand-picked choice of Bucks’ superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Later in the offseason, just days before training camp, Jon Horst pulled off the most notable trade of the offseason, sending Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trailblazers (and Grayson Allen to the Phoenix Suns) for All-Star point guard Damian Lillard.
On paper, the Bucks looked like the team in to beat in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, that was far from the case.
The Milwaukee Bucks Had Their Fair Share of Drama
The Adrian Griffin Era in Milwaukee never ran smoothly. Just days before the regular season, assistant coach Terry Stotts suddenly resigned after an altercation with Griffin in practice. Furthermore, the moment the season began, it was clear that the Bucks were not flowing as well as many thought they would.
Giannis and Lillard are both great players, but the lack of time in the offseason to grow chemistry and work together made everything they did looked forced and disjointed. Meanwhile, the team’s defense, which had been one of the best in the NBA under Budenholzer, became one of the worst.
For these reasons and more, the Bucks made the surprising decision to fire Griffin 43 games into the season when Milwaukee was 30-13.
Eventually, Milwaukee zeroed in on Doc Rivers as the team’s next head coach, and while the defense improved, there was still a great deal wrong with the team. Granted, a lot of their struggled came from the fact that they were not healthy. Giannis, Lillard, and Khris Middleton played a grand total of six games together after Rivers was hired.
Unfortunately, injuries also played a huge roll in the Bucks’ season ending in the first round of the NBA Playoffs again. While disappointing, the silver lining is that Milwaukee could focus on an offseason with clear knowledge of who their head coach is and who their stars are.
Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach Doc Rivers Cleaned House
When Rivers was first hired, he made the decision to keep the assistant coaches that Griffin had hired for the remainder of the season. In the process, he was able to evaluate how they would fit on his staff long-term.
After the season, though, it was reported that he fired three assistant coaches, one of which was long-time Bucks coach Josh Oppenheimer. A favorite of Giannis’, Oppenheimer was on staff when the Greek Freak was first drafted by Milwaukee in 2013. He remained on staff until 2016, but was hired back by Mike Budenholzer in 2020.
In total, Oppenheimer worked on the staffs of six different Bucks full-time and interim head coaches.
He has also worked with Giannis on the Greek national team.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Is Not Happy That the Milwaukee Bucks Fired Josh Oppenheimer
According to a post made by Gery Woelfel, Giannis is reportedly not happy with Rivers and the Bucks for their decision to fire Oppenheimer. Woelfel posted on X:
“When the Bucks recently jettisoned assistant coach Josh Oppenheimer, the public reaction was a collective yawn. But Oppenheimer worked extensively with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the two have established a great rapport. An NBA official claims the Bucks didn’t consult with Antetokounmpo before firing Oppenheimer and that Antetokounmpo isn’t happy about it.”
Over the last 12 months, Giannis has insisted that he is not and does not want to be involved in any personnel decisions. If that is the case, one has to conclude that Milwaukee did nothing wrong in not consulting him before deciding to fire Oppenheimer.
Whether or not there will be any fallout from the decision remains to be seen.
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