Milwaukee Bucks: The hot seat for coach Bud has gotten cooler and cooler
It appears that coach Mike Budenholzer’s job is now safe with the Milwaukee Bucks.
As the Milwaukee Bucks take a 2-1 lead on the Atlanta Hawks in this year’s Eastern Conference Finals, It’s got to be a truly remarkable feeling if you’re coach Mike Budenholzer. After what was looking like another postseason early exit for Milwaukee, coach Bud’s job seemed to be at stake.
Whispers of bringing in Rick Carlisle were circulating as it seemed like the Brooklyn Nets may still handle the Bucks despite the injuries to Kyrie Irving and James Harden. Of course, we know that’s not how things played out as the Bucks narrowly beat Brooklyn in an unbelievable series to advance to the conference finals.
If it weren’t for KD’s shoe being a size too big and making that final shot at the buzzer a 2-point shot instead of 3, and if Harden or Irving were available, then maybe the Bucks hold a press conference introducing Carlisle as the new head coach.
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But that’s not what happened, and each game the Bucks win, the closer they get to the finals. The closer the Bucks get to the finals, the harder it would be to replace coach Budenholzer.
We’ve seen coaches get fired after being named coach of the year, most recently Dwane Casey and George Karl. Budenholzer was named head coach of the year in his first coaching stint in Atlanta before agreeing to part ways a few seasons later. It seems Bud’s ceiling is a great regular season, and coming up short in the playoffs.
One thing he has on his side is that we’ve never seen a coach take a team to the Eastern Conference Finals or the NBA Finals and the front office not bring them back the following year. However, we’ve seen a coach take a team to the championship and even win the thing, and be let go during the following season.
Somewhat confusing head-coaching firings in NBA history
The first example that comes to my mind is Paul Westhead in 1980 who coached the first “showtime” Lakers team to a championship against the Sixers in ’80. They win the championship, and owner Jerry Buss replaces Westhead with Pat Riley. In hindsight, Dr. Buss made the correct decision as Pat Riley is known as one of, if not the greatest coaches in NBA history. And it all started after Westhead was let go.
The second is Larry Brown’s odd last season in Detroit. So crazy, they stun the Lakers and win the championship in 2004. They go back to the finals in 2005 and lose at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs, and Brown was let go due to him flirting with other job openings, contract disputes, and he even put off surgery until after the All-star break. What are you doing Larry? Are you trying to get fired? Well, it turns out he took the New York Knicks job the following season making him the highest-paid coach in history. So maybe he was, no matter what, that $60 million contract to coach speaks for itself.
And then most recently, Tyronn Lue. After winning the championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 as the interim head coach, Lue coached the Cavs to finals in 2017 and 2018 before being let go in 2019 after an 0-6 start to the regular season.
Of course, this was the first season of LeBron being a Laker and Cleveland being left high and dry again. So we knew they were going to be bad, I’m not sure the Cavs just wanted a new regime as they began to rebuild or if they genuinely thought Lue was doing a bad job. I think it worked out for Lue, the Cavs are still a lottery team with a slim shot to make any noise with the way their roster is constructed, and Lue landed the LA Clipper’s head coaching job after Doc Rivers was let go in 2020.
Also, Lue is now a part of Clippers’ history as he is the coach of the first Western Conference Finals team in Clippers’ franchise history.
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Could a situation like this happen to Bucks Coach Mike Budenholzer? One thing is for sure, his job will be safe going into the season, especially if the Bucks continue to win. Barring a catastrophic failure in next year’s regular season, I think coach Bud will be safe. He should send KD, Kris Middleton, and of course, Giannis Antetokounmpo a gift basket at the end of this season, as they are the most responsible for him being a head coach in the league.