Less than 24 hours after firing their previous head coach, the Bucks appear to have their new leader.
milwaukee is reportedly finalizing a deal to make Doc Rivers the team’s next head coach, according to multiple reports. Rivers returns to the sideline after a brief stint as an analyst on ESPN’s main NBA broadcast team.
As the timing of the reports would indicate, the Bucks moved quickly to nab Rivers, who last coached the 76ers during the 2022-23 season. He is now ready to take over a Bucks team that has a 30-13 record in 43 games this season.
Here’s more on Milwaukee’s decision to hire Rivers.
Why did the Bucks hire Doc Rivers?
Simply put, Rivers stood out above other coaching candidates because of his coaching experience and winning record.
Immediately following Adrian Griffin’s firing, TNT’s Chris Haynes reported that the Bucks “seriously consider“Rivers as a midseason replacement. Moments later, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski added that Milwaukee’s search would be prioritized.”Accomplished and available veteran head coaches“.
With Griffin’s firing midseason, the pool of available head coaches who fit the bill of being accomplished veterans was extremely small.
Rivers, who took his first head coaching job in 1999, has been an NBA bench head coach for at least part of every NBA season since. During 24 seasons as a head coach, he earned Coach of the Year honors, won an NBA title in 2008, an Eastern Conference Championship in 2010 and was called as one of the 15 best head coaches in NBA history.
As Wojnarowski pointed out During an appearance on SportsCenter, Rivers rose to the top of the list of candidates given his championship coaching pedigree and familiarity with contending teams in the Eastern Conference.
In three seasons as head coach of the 76ers, Rivers led the team to a 154-82 record, but they lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals each year. Now, Rivers can use what he’s learned about the Eastern Conference landscape over the past few seasons to help lead Milwaukee back to an NBA title, which he won in 2021.
According Shams Charania of The Athletic, Rivers “began serving as an informal consultant to Griffin at the Bucks’ behest” in December. After Griffin’s firing, Rivers quickly rose to prominence as the “preferred pick of key stakeholders” within the franchise.
Doc Rivers’ coaching record
Rivers will begin his 25th season as an NBA head coach. He is one of 10 coaches in NBA history with more than 1,000 wins and would surpass Larry Brown with two wins.
| Season | Equipment | regular season | Qualifiers |
| 1999-00 | Magic | 41-41 | — |
| 2000-01 | Magic | 43-39 | 1-3 |
| 2001-02 | Magic | 44-38 | 1-3 |
| 2002-03 | Magic | 42-40 | 3-4 |
| 2003-04 | Magic | 1-10 | — |
| 2004-05 | celts | 45-37 | 3-4 |
| 2005-06 | celts | 33-49 | — |
| 2006-07 | celts | 24-58 | — |
| 2007-08 | celts | 66-16 | 16-10 |
| 2008-09 | celts | 62-20 | 7-7 |
| 2009-10 | celts | 50-32 | 15-9 |
| 2010-11 | celts | 56-26 | 5-4 |
| 2011-12 | celts | 39-27 | 11-9 |
| 2012-13 | celts | 41-40 | 2-4 |
| 2013-14 | Scissors | 57-25 | 6-7 |
| 2014-15 | Scissors | 56-26 | 7-7 |
| 2015-16 | Scissors | 53-29 | 2-4 |
| 2016-17 | Scissors | 51-31 | 3-4 |
| 2017-18 | Scissors | 42-40 | — |
| 2018-19 | Scissors | 48-34 | 2-4 |
| 2019-20 | Scissors | 49-23 | 7-6 |
| 2020-21 | 76ers | 49-23 | 7-5 |
| 2021-22 | 76ers | 51-31 | 6-6 |
| 2022-23 | 76ers | 54-28 | 7-4 |
| TOTAL | 1,097-763 | 111-104 |
