Milwaukee Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo reportedly played a role in the team’s decision to hire head coach Adrian Griffin to replace the fired Mike Budenholzer ahead of the 2023-24 NBA season.
Per NBA insider Marc Stein, Antetokounmpo “chose to champion Griffin” over another candidate for the opening in that of former Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. As you already know, Nurse ended up being hired by the Philadelphia 76ers with Griffin going to Milwaukee.
Just 43 games into his first season as the Bucks head coach and with the team boasting a 30-13 record, Griffin was surprisingly fired by the Bucks on Tuesday. It is a move that sent shockwaves throughout the NBA world. A team that boasted the second-best record in the Association moving on from its head coach. There had to be a backstory to all of this.
Like clockwork, we do have more information on the stunning turn of events surrounding Giannis and the Bucks about midway through the season.
Related: NBA world reacts to Milwaukee Bucks firing Adrian Griffin
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks players had lost faith in Adrian Griffin
Chris Mannix from Sports Illustrated reported on Tuesday that there have been “steady rumblings for weeks in NBA circles” that Giannis Antetokounmpo and other star Bucks players “had lost faith in” Griffin before his firing.
Other reports came up with the same conclusion.
“According to team sources, the issues plaguing Griffin’s early tenure ranged from putting together strong schemes on both ends of the floor for the Bucks to fulfill their championship potential to successfully communicating his vision to his players for them to execute it on the floor.”
Report from The Athletic’s Sam Amick, Shams Charania and Eric Nehm
Despite posting a solid 30-13 record to open the season, the Bucks had put up some duds under Griffin. That included losing by 40 points to the Cleveland Cavaliers less than a week ago. This could very well have been the final nail in the coffin for Griffin in Milwaukee.
Moving forward, one NBA championship head coach is considered a top targets for the Bucks to replace Griffin on a full-time basis.
The pressure is going to be squarely on players to do their thing after they seemingly forced the Bucks’ brass to make this move. That’s especially true after the blockbuster acquisition of future Hall of Fame guard Damian Lillard ahead of the 2023-24 season.