Everyone saw this coming except Milwaukee's ownership. Firing Adrian Griffin mid-season and replacing him with Doc Rivers was little more than a bad bout of organizational panic that looked like a bold move, and now, it's costing the Bucks everything -- potentially including Giannis Antetokounmpo himself.
To get it out of the way, yes, Griffin had his flaws. The defensive schemes were inconsistent, rotations were questionable, and his inexperience showed in pressure situations. But the Bucks were 30-13 when they fired him. Since Doc Rivers has joined, the team has gone 84-81.
Thirty wins and 13 losses would have been on pace for 55+ wins and home court advantage in the playoffs, which is more than you can say for these Bucks today.
The Bucks' firing of Adrian Griffin looks much worse years later
Instead of letting their first-year head coach work through growing pains, ownership panicked and made a desperation hire that everyone with functioning basketball knowledge knew was a mistake. Doc Rivers hadn't been a good coach in over a decade, but he had a name and a championship from 2008, so Milwaukee convinced themselves he was the answer.
If they were really going to fire Griffin, and maybe his coaching issues were legitimate enough to warrant it, Doc Rivers very clearly wasn't the choice to go with. There were younger, more innovative coaches available. Assistants around the league who actually run modern systems.
This could haunt them for a long time if it's what causes the end of the Giannis Antetokounmpo era. Giannis hasn't been shy about his frustration with the team's direction. And when he finally demands out this summer, ownership can look in the mirror and know their Doc Rivers decision was the beginning of the end.
Griffin deserved more time to prove himself
The truth is that Griffin probably deserved more of a shot considering their record at the time. Was he perfect? No. But 30-13 isn't a disaster that requires mid-season coaching changes. That's a team that's winning games despite some rough edges that could've been smoothed out with time and experience. He wasn't the answer to this team at the time, sure, but there's no telling if he had room to grow into the coach this team needed.
Instead, Milwaukee fired Griffin, hired Rivers, and immediately got worse. The defense collapsed. The rotations became more chaotic. The offensive system (if you can even call it that) regressed to iso-heavy basketball that belongs in 2005. Everything ownership worried about with Griffin got exponentially worse under Rivers.
And what hurts the most is that they continue to ignore the one move that could save them today.
This is what happens when owners start making basketball decisions instead of trusting their front office. Horst isn't perfect, but at least he understands modern NBA basketball. Ownership saw a big name and championship pedigree and ignored everything Doc Rivers has done (or failed to do) for the past 15 years. And even with better names available, they foolishly stick to the decision they made.
The Griffin firing always felt like a panic move by people who didn't understand what they were panicking about. The team was winning! The style wasn't pretty sometimes, but results matter more than aesthetics. And now the Bucks get to add Griffin to a long line of head coaches they owe apologies to.
Some mistakes you can recover from. This one's going to define Milwaukee's next decade, and not in a good way.