Adrian Griffin issued a strong statement to NBA reporter Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report after getting fired by the Milwaukee Bucks on January 23.
The Bucks fired Griffin despite having the second-best record (30-13) in the Eastern Conference.
“I appreciate the opportunity the Bucks gave me. You can’t control everything,” Griffin said. “I feel good about the job we did. I appreciate my coaching staff for all their hard work. I always wanted to be a head coach in this league. I couldn’t have asked for a better roster. I got to coach Giannis, Dame, Khris, Brook. Dream come true. Hopefully I get another shot at it, but overall, I’m just thankful.”
The Bucks hired Doc Rivers to replace Griffin. Rivers began to serve as an informal consultant to Griffin at the behest of the Bucks in December, per The Athletic.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Adrian Griffin, Milwaukee Bucks Updates
According to NBA insider Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo “lost faith” in Griffin. The Athletic also reported that Damian Lillard struggled with how Milwaukee functioned offensively under Griffin.
Under Griffin, the Bucks averaged 124.6 points per game. That’s good for second in the NBA. However, Milwaukee gave up 120.5 points a night. That’s 25th in the league.
Antetokounmpo didn’t want the Bucks to hire Nick Nurse last summer, according to NBA insider Marc Stein, which is why Griffin was hired.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Adrian Griffin, Milwaukee Bucks Updates
It will be fascinating to see how the Bucks play under Rivers, who won the 2008 championship with the Boston Celtics. As for Griffin, it will be intriguing to see if he gets a head coaching job again.
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