The Milwaukee Bucks have decided to fire their head coach Mike Budenholzer. The move comes after the Bucks suffered a shocking first-round exit in the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
The Bucks finished the 2022-23 regular season at the top of the Western Conference with a league-best 58-24 record. However, the team fell flat in the postseason, being eliminated by the eight-seeded Miami Heat in five games.
Budenholzer leaves the Bucks after five seasons in which he posted a 271-120 record. He led the team to playoffs in each season, making two Eastern Conference Finals and winning an NBA Championship in 2020-21.
“The decision to make this change was very difficult,” said Bucks general manager Jon Horst in a statement posted on the team’s official website. “Bud helped lead our team for five incredible seasons, to the Bucks’ first title in 50 years, and into an era of sustained success. We are grateful for the culture of winning and leadership that Bud helped create in Milwaukee.”
According to a report from The Athletic’s Eric Nehm, Milwaukee already has Budenholzer’s replacement in mind. The team is expected to aggressively pursue Nick Nurse, an NBA-winning head coach who was recently fired by the Toronto Raptors.
Budenholzer, on the other hand, should have plenty of offers if he ends up wanting to get back into the game immediately. In his 10-year career as NBA head coach, which included a stint with the Atlanta Hawks, Budenholzer has a .604 winning percentage and has missed the playoffs only once.
