Giannis has surprising preference for Bucks' next HC

Giannis Antetokounmpo Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Giannis Antetokounmpo has surprising preference for Bucks' next HC

Originally posted on WI Sports Heroics | By Robin Adams | Last updated 5/24/23

The Milwaukee Bucks fired head coach Mike Budenholzer after five winning seasons and a NBA Championship. Unfortunately, while Budenholzer was able to consistently lead the Bucks to stellar regular season finishes, he was unable to match that success in the playoffs on a year-to-year basis. His inability to make adjustments or use available timeouts in the 4-1 series loss to the Miami Heat ultimately cost him his job.

With Budenholzer gone, the front office cast a wide net and interviewed many potential head coaching candidates. Now, their list is down to just three names: former Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson, and Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin. According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo has informed the team of which finalist he would prefer.

Giannis Antetokounmpo wants Adrian Griffin to be the next head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks

On his podcast Burns and Gambo, Gambadoro stated:

“I think that Griffin is gonna get the Milwaukee job because Giannis wants him. There’s like a butting of the heads in Milwaukee, from what I’m being told, because you’ve got the owner, you’ve got the GM, you’ve got Giannis. They wanna keep Giannis and they wanna keep Giannis happy. Adrian Griffin is his choice. That’s who he wants.”

It is interesting, and somewhat concerning, that Gambadoro stated that there is a “butting of heads.” There has been no other report of discontent or conflict between Giannis and the front office/ownership group. Of course, if that is true, neither side would benefit from it being reported.

The questions, then, is whether we are to believe that there is such a butting of heads. There is no doubt that Giannis is kept in the loop in regards to the head coaching search. There is also no doubt that he has shared his preferences with the team. It stands to reason that they would not agree on everything. Perhaps the term “butting of heads” is an overstatement, or perhaps it is not.

The key thing, though, is that the front office wants to keep Giannis in Milwaukee and the two-time MVP wants to stay in Milwaukee. How much those desires will affect the team’s decision on who to hire as their next head coach remains to be seen.

This article first appeared on WI Sports Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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