Adrian Griffin finished with shortest head-coaching tenure in decades

Griffin lasted only 43 games, which is the shortest tenure by a non-interim NBA coach since the San Antonio Spurs fired Jerry "Tark the Shark" Tarkanian after just 20 games in 1992.

The Griffin firing was far more shocking. Tarkanian reportedly struggled with calling timeouts and making player substitutions, and even started taking medication for high blood pressure during the team's 9-11 start. 

By contrast, Griffin's Bucks are tied for the NBA's second-best record at 30-13, and have won five of their last six games.

The last two were back-to-back wins against the 4-39 Detroit Pistons, though both games were close late in the fourth quarter. It's yet another sign that the Pistons are a historically-terrible team. The Pistons are so bad that only beating them by single digits is grounds for firing.

It's reminiscent of the Cleveland Cavaliers firing head coach David Blatt in 2016, while the Cavaliers were leading the Eastern Conference with a 30-11 record. 

It paid off, as replacement coach Ty Lue led the Cavaliers to a title, though we wonder how the move would look had Draymond Green not been suspended.

Clearly this has to do with the team's superstars. A rift with LeBron James doomed Blatt. In Milwaukee, Griffin may have alienated his stars. Damian Lillard's former coach Terry Stotts resigned after Griffin berated him at practice, a week before the season. Giannis Antetokounmpo has clashed with Griffin as well.

But considering how much success Milwaukee has had this season - they've won 70% of their games — the firing makes it clear that in the NBA, a superstar player has far more power than their coach.