Doc Rivers has accepted an offer to become the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks following Tuesday’s dismissal of Adrian Griffin only 43 games into his first season with the team, according to multiple reports.
CNN was first to report the news of Rivers’ agreement to a deal in principle late Tuesday night. ESPN, where Rivers has worked this season an on-air analyst, confirmed that reporting on Wednesday morning.
ESPN’s public relations department released a statement on social media from head of event and studio production David Roberts saying, “We wish Doc well and we look forward to documenting the next chapter of his coaching career.”
Interim coach Joe Prunty will coach the Bucks on Wednesday night when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Bucks fired Griffin on Tuesday despite owning a 30-13 record that matches the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves for the second-best mark in the league. Milwaukee are three and a half games behind the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference standings.
Griffin had never been a head coach until the Bucks hired him last summer, though he had spent 16 years as an assistant. The Bucks would be replacing him with someone who has nearly a quarter-century of head coaching experience.
The 62-year-old Rivers finds himself back in the coaching ranks eight months after he was fired by the Philadelphia 76ers following the team’s third straight exit in the second round of the playoffs – and the second time over that span he lost a series lead and a Game 7.
Rivers led the Sixers to their second straight 50-win season behind NBA MVP Joel Embiid but again failed to lead them to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2001.
He has plenty of Milwaukee ties, as he played for Marquette from 1980 through 1983 and his No 31 jersey hangs from the Fiserv Forum rafters. He also has a championship background after leading Boston to a title in 2008.
He was 154-82 in three years with the Sixers. Rivers also had stints with the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Clippers. Altogether, he’s amassed a win-loss record of 1,097-763 over a career that dates to the 1999-2000 season.
His 1,097 regular-season wins put him one shy of Larry Brown for eighth most in NBA history.
Rivers’ task at Milwaukee would be to upgrade a defense that performed poorly enough under Griffin to cast doubt on the Bucks’ chances of seriously contending for a title. The Bucks rank 21st in defensive rating, down from fourth last season.