Adrian Griffin leaves Raptors to coach Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo

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Former Toronto Raptors lead assistant Adrian Griffin will be the new head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, according to multiple reports.

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Griffin, 48, spent five seasons under Nick Nurse in Toronto, starting with the 2018-19 championship season. He had a long NBA playing career and started as a coach with Milwaukee for two seasons, before spending five years in Chicago, one in Orlando and two in Oklahoma City.

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Griffin reportedly was endorsed by two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

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Griffin has long been considered a head coach in waiting and has interviewed for many jobs over the years, including Detroit this off-season and the Los Angeles Lakers last year. Nurse certainly mentioned that many times over the years while leading Toronto and Griffin was extremely well-regarded by Raptors players.

“Really happy. A first-class, top-of-the-line coach and person, a huge signing for us,” Nurse told Postmedia when Griffin was first hired by the Raptors.

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Back then, Griffin had a reputation as a defensive specialist, but Nurse quickly said he’d encourage him to do it all with the Raptors.

“One of the things I told him was I was going to teach him the offence and let him run it some in practice and stuff for his growth and that’s important because he’s a head coach. (Griffin’s) a head coach in this league eventually,” Nurse said at the time, “so we want to help him get ready for it.”

And now he’s finally got his chance.

When Nurse and his staff earned a spot at the all-star game in Los Angeles, another Nurse assistant, Nate Bjorkgren, also praised Griffin.

“I mean, he is awesome. He has a great demeanour, he’s going to be a great head coach in the NBA,” Bjorkgren said. “He’s got a nice calming presence about him when he’s showing film to the team when he’s talking to the team. So just his overall feel and approach and knowing how to talk to the players is probably his number one strength.”

Whatever was previously holding him back, whether it was the interview process itself or something else, clearly was no longer an issue. Nurse and Golden State assistant Kenny Atkinson were considered the other finalists for the job in Milwaukee, though The Athletic reported Nurse pulled himself out of consideration.

Nurse is considered a front-runner for either the job in Phoenix or Philadelphia.

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Unlike most first-time coaches, Griffin inherits a contender. The Bucks had the league’s best record before flaming out in the playoffs to the No. 8 seed Miami Heat, costing Mike Budenholzer his job earlier this month, but they retain Antetokoumpo, Jrue Holiday and Bobby Portis and will be the favourites to retain free agents Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez.

Nurse was fired after going 41-41 this season and Griffin was under consideration to replace him. It remains unclear who the Raptors will hire, especially with rumours persisting that Monty Williams, fired by Phoenix despite having three lucrative years left on his contract, might just take a year off and count his money.

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