The Milwaukee Bucks, coming off a shocking playoff loss to the Miami Heat, fired head coach Mike Budenholzer, the team announced Thursday afternoon.
“This is an opportunity for us to refocus and reenergize our efforts as we continue building toward our next championship season,” team president Peter Feigen and general manager Jon Horst said in a statement.
Milwaukee parted ways with Budenholzer after the Bucks, the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, lost to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in a first-round playoff series last week. The stunning defeat comes just two seasons after Budenholzer led the Bucks to a NBA title in 2021, their first championship in 50 years.
The Bucks posted a 58-24 record during the 2022-23 season, but the collapse – the Bucks lost the final three games against the Heat – prompted the team to make a change. The Bucks’ collapse against the Heat placed Budenholzer’s decision-making in the spotlight, particularly during their 128-126 overtime loss in Game 5. Budenholzer opted to not use his available timeouts during the final seconds of the fourth quarter and overtime.
Budenholzer posted a record of 271-120 in regular season games during his five seasons in Milwaukee, but was 39-26 in the postseason over those five seasons.
