It appears that winning a championship doesn’t correlate ttho longevity in an NBA coaching role, that is unless your Steve Kerr who’s coming off the back of the 2022 title with the Golden State Warriors.
The Milwaukee Bucks made a big call on Thursday by parting ways with 2021 championship-winning coach Mike Budenholzer, with the 53-year-old having spent five seasons with the franchise since 2018.
Golden State Warriors’ Steve Kerr is the only head coach remaining of the last four to win NBA championships between 2019-2022.
The Bucks’ decision comes after a horror first-round exit to the Miami Heat, having gone down in five games despite finishing as the Eastern Conference’s first-seed. It was just the fifth time in NBA history that an eight-seed had upset the top seed.
Milwaukee finished the regular season with a 58-24 record, with Budenholzer leading the Bucks to top spot in the central division in all five seasons. Despite their regular season dominance, Budenholzer and Milwaukee have often been criticized for underwhelming playoff performances aside from their success in 2021.
Budenholzer’s axing has been met with criticism with plenty of fans pointing to the fact he tragically lost his brother in a motor vehicle accident during the series. The series could have also been a lot different had superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo not missed multiple games with a back injury.
He’s now the second championship-winning coach to depart their team at the conclusion of the season, with Nick Nurse and the Toronto Raptors splitting after a disappointing season that saw them eliminated in the Play-In Tournament. Nurse and the Raptors won the 2019 Finals against the Warriors in six games.
The Los Angeles Lakers, who the Warriors are coincidentally facing in their current second-round matchup, fired Frank Vogel last season less than two years after winning the 2020 championship in the bubble.
It leaves Kerr and Gregg Popovich as the only two coaches to be remaining at the franchise where they won a championship. The latter led the San Antonio Spurs to five championships between 1999 and 2014, with Kerr to join him should the Warriors salute in winning back-to-back titles.