With the Milwaukee Bucks embarking on their third coach hunt in just three seasons, Yankee Scores delves into the chaos of a world champion organization that has lost its way and forgotten its purpose.

Latest Managerial Casualty

Doc Rivers is stepping down from his job as the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks embark on their third consecutive year of head coaching search. Rivers will be receiving his eight-figure salary next year during the 2026-27 season. Sources state that the Bucks and Rivers will be discussing whether he will continue as an adviser for the team.

A Mark of Change?

This marks a season of change for the Bucks after the 97-103 record over three seasons with the Bucks, including a pair of first-round playoff defeats and a lackluster performance of not making the playoffs nor the play-in round of the current season.

“[The season] didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, obviously,” Rivers said after Milwaukee dropped to 32-50 with a loss to the 76ers on Sunday. “I always say I could do a better job. We could have had better health. We could have had all kinds of things. I’m not a big guy at looking back. All you can do is look forward. We did a lot of things to improve a lot of the young guys. Unfortunately, that was the road that kind of presented itself for us, and we did that.”

Rivers Journey at the Bucks

In late January 2024, Rivers was hired to become head coach of the team after Adrian Griffin was fired due to his 30-13 record as the head coach. Under Rivers’ leadership, the Bucks finished the 2023-24 season with a 17-19 record. The Bucks recorded a 48-34 record in the 2024-25 season.

For each season, Rivers faced problems of losing important players due to injury issues. Both Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo were absent from part of the playoffs during 2024 and 2025. Giannis played just in 36 games during 2025-26 season.

Rivers is one of the members of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2026. He helped the 2007-08 Boston Celtics win an NBA championship, is the sixth-most successful regular season coach in history and the fourth-best career playoff coach ever.

The Bucks have ended their nine-year streak of making the playoffs, and did not have any playoff series wins since 2022.

The Bucks won the 2021 NBA title under Mike Budenholzer, who was fired from the job two years later.