Bucks fire Mike Budenholzer after latest playoff flameout
Listen 4 min Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share
Mike Budenholzer coached the Milwaukee Bucks to their first NBA championship in 50 years, but he won’t get the opportunity to keep chasing a second. The Bucks announced the firing of Budenholzer on Thursday after a five-year tenure highlighted by the 2021 title. Though Budenholzer built Milwaukee into a perennial power and oversaw the most successful regular season stretch in franchise history, a stunning first-round exit from the playoffs last month added to a lengthy list of postseason disappointments on his watch.
“The decision to make this change was very difficult,” Bucks General Manager Jon Horst said in a statement. “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 re-energize our efforts as we continue building toward our next championship season.”
Budenholzer, 53, arrived in Milwaukee in 2018 just as franchise star Giannis Antetokounmpo was coming into his own and promptly led the Bucks to a 60-win season in 2018-19 to win his second coach of the year award. With Antetokounmpo as his centerpiece, Budenholzer constructed elite offensive and defensive units, and Milwaukee’s 271 combined wins over the past five regular seasons is tops in the NBA.
Advertisement
But Budenholzer, whose strict philosophies were crucial to the Bucks’ success, often struggled to make the necessary adjustments in the playoffs.
Milwaukee became the first No. 1 seed in NBA history to win only one game while being eliminated by a No. 8 seed when the Miami Heat upset the Bucks in five games, in a matchup that mirrored Miami’s second-round series win over Milwaukee in the 2020 bubble. In addition to the two Heat upsets, the Bucks blew a 2-0 lead to the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 Eastern Conference finals and a 3-2 series lead against the Boston Celtics last year.
Along the way, critics questioned Budenholzer’s cautious handling of Antetokounmpo’s minutes, his reluctance to change his defensive matchups or double-team opposing stars, his preference for leaning on veterans rather than developing younger talents and his late-game tactical decisions.
Advertisement
During the latest loss to Miami, Milwaukee blew a 15-point lead in Game 4 and a 16-point lead in Game 5, and it conceded 98 combined points to Heat star Jimmy Butler in the two games. Afterward, Antetokounmpo publicly questioned Budenholzer’s approach, saying that he wanted the opportunity to defend Butler more often because Milwaukee guard Jrue Holiday had too much on his plate to have sole responsibility for such a tough assignment.
“Jrue did his best, man,” Antetokounmpo said. “But at the end of the day, he gets tired. He’s got to rebound the ball, pass the ball, score the ball, guard Jimmy. He gets tired. Maybe we could have double-teamed more and tried to make him pass the ball. Maybe switch the matchup for a little bit and give Jrue a break for two or three minutes. I don’t think as a team we made the right [adjustments] or we didn’t make as many adjustments as we could against him. … I wish I could guard [Butler] more.”
During the Game 5 collapse, Budenholzer forgot to call a timeout to set up a potential game-winner at the end of regulation, and the Bucks didn’t even manage to get a shot off on their final possession of overtime. Before Butler converted a decisive lob at the end of regulation, Budenholzer subbed out center Brook Lopez to match up with a smaller lineup, a decision that played into Miami’s hands because Milwaukee had no big men in position to defend the basket area.
Advertisement
Milwaukee’s early exit increased the pressure on the franchise to reconstruct a title-worthy roster around Antetokounmpo, who is 28 and can become a free agent in 2025. The Bucks already have several major salary commitments on their books, and all-star forward Khris Middleton can exercise his player option to become a free agent this summer. With sweeping changes unlikely to come for Antetokounmpo’s supporting cast, Milwaukee must hope that a new coaching voice can deliver better postseason results.
Nick Nurse, the former Raptors coach who outfoxed Budenholzer en route to the 2019 title, is the highest-profile coaching free agent. Milwaukee assistant coach Charles Lee has drawn interest from other organizations and is a possible internal candidate to replace Budenholzer.
Budenholzer, who had two years remaining on a contract extension that he signed in 2021, departs Milwaukee with a 271-120 (.693) record over five seasons with the Bucks and a 484-317 (.604) career record, which includes his five seasons coaching the Atlanta Hawks from 2013 to 2018.
GiftOutline Gift Article
Source: The Washington Post