The Milwaukee Bucks’ 2022-2023 season came to a shocking end on Wednesday night, as they fell to the Miami Heat to lose in the first round of the playoffs. After finishing the regular season with the NBA’s best record, the Bucks became the first team to lose a playoff series to a team from the play-in tournament.
There is sure to be speculation on the future of many players and staff on the team after not achieving their goal of winning the NBA championship this season. Nobody will be more discussed than Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer.
NBA Insider Shams Charania may have added to the speculation on The Rally. Charania stated that “Mike Budenholzer’s status as Bucks head coach is very much shaky” and that “there are questions across the organization.”
NBA Insider suggests that Mike Budenholzer’s future with the Milwaukee Bucks is shaky
It is no surprise to hear that Budenholzer is on the hot seat after a series of unfortunate playoff exits throughout his tenure. Frequently, Bucks fans and media have criticized Budenholzer for not being able to make what seem to be simple adjustments to help his team win.
Watching the Bucks during this season’s postseason run made someone want to pull their hair out. Whether it was continuing to play drop coverage against a Miami Heat team that was consistently making their threes, failing to recognize that the Jrue Holiday on Jimmy Butler matchup wasn’t working, or not using his timeouts late in an elimination game, there were numerous times when Budenholzer failed to make the obvious adjustments in the series.
Budenholzer’s neglection of adjustments is not an anomaly; it is now officially a pattern. If someone wanted to, they could go through the years and find tens, maybe even hundreds of times when Budenholzer couldn’t swallow his pride and stuck with a game plan that was not working.
After one of the most embarrassing playoff series losses in NBA history that featured back-to-back fourth-quarter collapses, it’s clear that it’s time to go in a different direction with leadership in Milwaukee. The news from Charania suggests that the organization is also starting to feel that way.
Stay tuned to see what happens with Budenholzer’s future and many more questions surrounding the Bucks going into the offseason.