Mavs’ Jason Kidd: Bucks Firing Adrian Griffin ‘Puts All Other Coaches on Alert’

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The Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to fire head coach Adrian Griffin despite a 30-13 record caught the attention of another NBA coach.

Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said the move “puts all other coaches on alert” since they may be fired even with one of the best records in the league, per Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News.

Kidd is at least somewhat familiar with Milwaukee considering he was the head coach of the Bucks from the 2014-15 campaign until he was fired during the 2017-18 one. While that was a different iteration of the franchise, Giannis Antetokounmpo was still the franchise player by the time Kidd’s tenure ended.

It didn’t take long for Milwaukee to make a decision following its latest firing, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported it will hire Doc Rivers.

Rivers is a veteran coach with stops with the Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics on his resume. He won the 2008 title with Boston and is 1,097-763 in his career.

Despite that winning record and the championship, he is also someone who is known for blowing playoff leads throughout his career.

Yet the Bucks made a change and are surely hoping their defensive efforts improve considering they are 21st in the league in defensive rating this season, per NBA.com.

Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated also reported “several Bucks veterans, including Giannis, had lost faith in Griffin. What appeared to be a smart hire last spring just never worked out.”

The Bucks are in championship-or-bust mode and made a drastic change despite an impressive record. Kidd’s Mavericks also have aspirations to make a deep playoff run with Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, although they are in eighth place in the Western Conference at 24-19.

Kidd might not be worried about his job status, but he is at least paying attention after Milwaukee’s move.