The Milwaukee Bucks have fired coach Mike Budenholzer after the Eastern Conferenceโs top seed, and favourite for the NBA title, crashed out of the playoffs in the first round.
That is according toย ESPNโsย Adrian Wojnarowski, who broke the news of Budenholzerโs dismissal on Friday morning [AEST].
Milwaukee confirmed the news shortly after in a statement.
โThe decision to make this change was very difficult,โ said Bucks general manager Jon Horst.
โBud helped lead our team for five incredible seasons, to the Bucksโ 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.
โThis is an opportunity for us to refocus and reenergize our efforts as we continue building toward our next championship season.โ
Budenholzer was head coach at Milwaukee for five seasons, taking the team to five-straight playoffs, two conference finals and one NBA championship. He had a 263-119 record.
โThis is a coach who nearly won 70 per cent of his games with the Bucks but I think this is an organisation now ready to hit the reset button,โ Wojnarowski said on SportsCenter on Friday.
โThey are in the middle of a championship window with Giannis Antetokounmpo certainly at the centre of all that.
Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton are potential free agents this offseason.
This will be a really attractive job in the marketplace.
Iโm told the Bucks are going to take their time as they search for their next head coach.โ
The Bucks entered this yearโs playoffs as the clear favourite after a 58-24 record during the regular season, only to go down in five games to the eighth-seed Miami Heat.
With it, they became the third team in NBA history to finish with the best regular-season record and win two or fewer playoff games.
Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo did miss two games during the series after sustaining a back injury in Game 1, managing just 11 minutes as the Heat won 130-117.
But coach Budenholzer also came under scrutiny in the aftermath of Milwaukeeโs elimination, criticised for not using the teamโs final timeout to advance the ball after a Jimmy Butler layup put the Heat ahead in Game 5.
โYeah we need to call a timeout,โ Budenholzer said when asked about the call.
Miami wing Max Strus, meanwhile, admitted on โThe Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotzโ that Budenholzerโs decision even caught the Heat players by surprise.
โHonestly, we were all questioning it,โ Strus said.
At the end of [regulation], Spo came in the huddle, he was like, โThey didnโt call a timeout! What are we doing?
They didnโt call a timeout!โ And we were like, we didnโt even know they had a timeout. We just figured they didnโt, the guys on the court.
โBut yeah, we were kind of questioning what was going on. But thankfully they didnโt use it.โ
Budenholzer was also scrutinised for his lack of defensive adjustments as Butler put the Heat on his back in the final two games of the series.
Even Antetokounmpo spoke about the lack of adjustments, admitting he wished he โcouldโve guardedโ Butler more.
โI donโt know, double-team him more, try to make him pass the ball,โ Antetokounmpo said. โMaybe switch the matchup for a little bit, give Jrue (Holiday) a break.
I donโt think as a team we made the right adjustment) or we didnโt make as many adjustments as we could have against him.โ
โOut of respect, youโve got to let the coach make the adjustment,โ Antetokounmpo added.
โWe have our best defender on him, but obviously, thereโs a conversation, whenever he gets tired, I can take him.โ
It was later revealed after the Bucks were eliminated from playoff contention that Budenholzer had been dealing with a personal tragedy during the series against the Heat.
Budenholzer confirmed toย The Athleticย earlier in the week that one of his three brothers died before Game 4 in a car accident.
It came after Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, who previously served as an assistant on Budenholzerโs staff at Milwaukee, revealed the news to reporters.
โCoach Bud is going through a lot on a personal level,โ Ham said.
โHe just lost a brother, so, my apologies Bud if I wasnโt supposed to let anybody know. He and Iโve been texting. I love those guys. Theyโre a part of my basketball family.โ