Just a week after suffering one of the most stunning upsets in playoff history and exiting the postseason in only the first round against the Heat, top-seeded Milwaukee fired their head coach Mike Budenholzer. This decision comes just two years after he guided the Bucks to their first NBA trophy in 50 years.
It seems these are new times for the Wisconsin franchise, as only three weeks ago after Jimmy Haslem, who is also the owner of the Cleveland Browns, bought 25% of the stakes in the team.
The Milwaukee Bucks part ways with head coach Mike Budenholzer. https://t.co/sF1awvROtf
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) May 4, 2023
“The decision to make this change was very difficult,” said Jon Horst, Bucks general manager. “Bud helped lead our team for five incredible seasons, to the Bucks’ first title in 50 years, and into an era of sustained success. We are grateful for the culture of winning and leadership that Bud helped create in Milwaukee.
“This is an opportunity for us to refocus and reenergize our efforts as we continue building toward our next championship season.”
This past season was actually Budenholzer’s best regular-season performance of his career, also holding the strongest mark in the whole league in three of his five years leading the Bucks roster. Overall, he posted a 271-120 record in the regular stage, adding a 39-26 to his playoff mark in Wisconsin.
In other words, with foward star Giannis Antetokounmpo at his side he took the franchise into heights that Milwaukee hadn’t seen ever since NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain wore the green jersey back in the early 1970s. Unfortunately for them, the team couldn’t match their success regular season in the playoff stage, with the clear exception of their 2021 championship.
If you look at the stats, every time Milwaukee finished as the league’s No.1 playoff seed under Budenholzer, they never reached the NBA Finals. In 2019 they lost 4-2 to the Toronto Raptors in their conference’s Finals, and the next year in 2020, the Miami Heat defeated them 4-1 in the second round.
“There’s a ton of disappointment when your season ends, no matter how it happens,” Budenholzer said after this season’s elimination. “It’s a hard feeling. It’s a disappointing feeling.”
Other coaches in the NBA were taken by surprise after Budenholzer’s discharge
You can argue how Milwaukee’s decision was a bit extreme, considering Mike was one of the most succesful coaches in recent years, and also one of the most stable in a league where franchises usually don’t trust the process and change their trainer constantly.
“My first response is not necessarily shock,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr admitted Thursday right before Game 2 between the Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers. “It’s more disappointment because Bud is a fantastic coach, just won a championship and has been wildly successful in his coaching career.”
“This is the business we’re in,” Kerr recalled. “It happens quickly. Expectations every year for every team are so high, and only one team can win. It’s sad news for the coaching profession.
“We all believe Bud deserved a lot better. We also are aware that this is the job we chose and we’re all vulnerable.”
