Mike Budenholzer under scrutiny over injury to Bucks guard Wesley Matthews

Budenholzer did finally call a timeout after that, and Matthews was able to sub out. Not long after, Matthews was diagnosed with a left knee contusion and ruled out for the rest of the game.

Afterward, Budenholzer admitted he should have called a timeout sooner.

On Monday, Budenholzer then told reporters that Matthews was not able to practice because of the knee injury and that Matthews had already been ruled out for Wednesday’s game against Cleveland. That led to further scrutiny of Budenholzer’s handling of the injury.

It is worth noting that Matthews has a reputation for his toughness and ability to fight through injury. But he also has a history of serious leg injuries, having ruptured his Achilles tendon back in 2015.

Perhaps Budenholzer did not want his team to foul since the Kings were in the bonus at the time and would have shot free throws. But there was no reason for Budenholzer not to call timeout when Milwaukee had the ball, especially when he had multiple opportunities to do so before his actual timeout. Budenholzer’s decision may or may not have affected the severity of Matthews’ injury. But it certainly cannot have helped matters.

While Budenholzer used to be one of the NBA’s most criticized coaches, the Bucks’ NBA title in 2021 banked a lot of goodwill for him. There may be no escaping the criticism for this Matthews situation however.