Toronto Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin is all set to be hired by the Milwaukee Bucks to be the team’s new head coach and here is all you need to know about him along with his salary, wife and son
Adrian Griffin, a Toronto Raptors assistant, will become the next head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, league sources told The Athletic on Saturday.
Griffin’s appointment as head coach comes after a three-week search that started on May 4 when general manager Jon Horst decided to fire Mike Budenholzer.
The Bucks requested that three candidates โ Kenny Atkinson, Adrian Gryphon, and Nick Nurse โ fly to Milwaukee at the start of this week in order to meet with the team’s important decision-makers.
Who is Adrian Griffin new Milwaukee Bucks head coach, salary, wife, son, bio, age, stats, NBA coaching record
โYouโre not gonna always like what I have to say, I feel like I have to tell you the truth, but without that truth, you canโt growโ
Welcome to Milwaukee, Adrian Griffin pic.twitter.com/SDHlL2aBhP
— ๐๐ (@GianniGoat) May 27, 2023
According to sources briefed on the situation, the three finalists were offered the chance to meet separately with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo at his River Hills, Wisconsin home on Tuesday. All three candidates had gone through the interview process with Horst, but one particular detail that surfaced very late in the process caught everyone’s attention.
After that, on Wednesday, each candidate had a meeting with Bucks’ ownership contingent. On Thursday evening, Horst arranged a dinner with the team’s ownership to discuss their pick for the head coaching position. Khris Middleton and Antetokounmpo were both invited, a league source said.
League sources claim that Nurse pulled out the Bucks’ hunt on Saturday when the team was deliberating between Griffin and Atkinson and ultimately decided to choose Griffin. The sources claim that Antetokounmpo gave his approval for Griffin’s employment.
Who is Adrian Griffin?
Adrian Darnell Gryphon, a former player and current assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), was born in the United States on July 4, 1974.
As the 17th head coach in Bucks history, Griffin will succeed Budenholzer, who had a franchise-best.693 win percentage in the previous five seasons in Milwaukee.
48-year old Griffin, started his coaching career in Milwaukee as Scott Skiles’ assistant in 2008. He has never held the position of NBA head coach before. Griffin, who was still active as a player at the time, was exchanged between the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Milwaukee Bucks. Griffin, though, did not play again, and Skiles hired him as a staff member.
Griffin has worked as an assistant coach for five different teams during the past 15 years, including the Bucks, Bulls, Magic, Thunder, and Raptors. Griffin has worked as the Raptors’ assistant coach for the past five years.
During the โbubbleโ playoffs in 2020, Griffin was accused of domestic violence on social media by his ex-wife Audrey Sterling but he denied the allegations and faced no punishment from the Raptors or the league, and in 2021 Griffin sued his ex-wife for defamation. He has a son named AJ Griffin.
Griffin has three children โ Adrian Jr., Alan, Aubrey โ all of whom played collegiate basketball and Adrian Griffin Jr. played for Duke from 2021-2022 and was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks with the 16th overall pick of the 2022 NBA draft. Alan Griffin competed at Syracuse and Illinois and plays in the Canadian Elite Basketball League while daughter Aubrey currently plays for women’s powerhouse Connecticut.
Griffin was undrafted in the 1996 NBA draft but went on to have a nine-year career in the NBA, where he averaged 4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 477 games.
His salary with the Bucks isn’t known.
Family of players
Adrian Jr., the son of Griffin, was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the 16th round of the 2022 NBA Draft as a five-star recruit in the class of 2021. Alan Griffin, the second son of Griffin, began his collegiate career at Syracuse after playing his first two seasons at Illinois. Aubrey, his daughter, is a UConn player.