Damian Lillard spoke how the Milwaukee Bucks‘ season hasn’t gone well. Adrian Griffin, the team’s first-year head coach, was fired and Doc Rivers was hired after defensive concerns raised by Griffin’s style caused tension in the dressing room.
After joining Milwaukee in June, Terry Stotts—who has coached over 1,000 NBA games and won 517 of them—left the team prior to the 2023–24 season.
An invaluable resource for the eight-time All-Star and a rookie head coach leading a title contender would have been the 13-year bench manager, who spent nine years coaching Damian Lillard with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Damian Lillard speaks about the massive gap between Bucks and Celtics
Even though Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard have played together since they teamed up, scoring 72 points a night, which ranks eighth in that category, according to NBA.com, their relationship hasn’t gone as smoothly or demonstrated as much dominance as many had hoped. According to Sports Illustrated Lillard said,
“I thought we was going to be how Boston is right now,” “But I think what I’ve learned is that some things take time, especially stuff that has (a) reward in the end,” “You can’t come into it and think that it’s just going to be all peaches and cream. We’ve had our ups and downs. We’ve had a coaching change. I haven’t completely settled into finding who am I on this team, and that’s kind of a tough thing.”
That being said, the team with those advantages usually has a greater record in the postseason when their opponent’s best player complains that their team’s chemistry isn’t as strong as Boston’s and their squad is more talented and well-balanced.
