The Milwaukee Bucks have embarked on a head coaching search following the dismissal of Mike Budenholzer on May 4.
General manager Jon Horst said shortly afterwards that in the early stages of the search, “I don’t want to put any boxes around what that will be. I believe we will have a very attractive position. We have the best player in the world. We have a championship culture and organization. We have great facilities. I think we have great respect around the league.
“So I think we’ll have a lot of options.”
More: Who are potential candidates for the Milwaukee Bucks head coaching position to replace Mike Budenholzer?
Bookmark this page as those options are gradually revealed (candidates will be listed in alphabetical order):
Kenny Atkinson
Age: 55 (56 on June 2)
Head coaching record: 118-190 (regular season), 1-4 (postseason)
Current position: Golden State assistant
Need to know: The Bucks requested and received permission to speak to Atkinson, a league source confirmed to the Journal Sentinel. He was brought to the NBA by Rick Adelman in 2007 as the Houston Rockets’ director of player development after coaching for several years in Europe. Mike D’Antoni moved him to an assistant coaching job in 2008 in New York, where he stayed until Budenholzer hired him in Atlanta in 2013. After three seasons with the Hawks, Atkins was hired as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets improved from a 20-win team in his first season to a playoff team in 2018-19. In the truncated 2019-20 season, he was dismissed with 10 games remaining after Kyrie Irving played 20 games and Kevin Durant missed the entire season due to injury.
Atkinson spent one year as an assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2020-21 and then joined the Warriors, although he almost took the Charlotte job last season before changing his mind.
Scott Brooks
Age: 57
Head coaching record: 521-414 (regular season), 49-48 (postseason)
Current position: Portland assistant coach
Need to know: The Bucks have been granted permission to speak to Brooks, the USA TODAY Network confirmed. He has been with the Trail Blazers the last two seasons under head coach Chauncey Billups. Brooks’ first head coaching position was in Oklahoma City, and he went 338-207 there from 2008-15. That included a trip to the 2012 NBA Finals, where the Thunder lost to Miami. He also guided the Thunder to two other Western Conference finals trips with Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.
Brooks then went 183-207 in Washington from 2016-21.
He played 10 seasons in the NBA for six teams from 1988-98 and won a title in 1994 with Houston. He moved to the bench in 2003 with Denver under head coach Jeff Bzdelik. He spent one year in Sacramento with head coach Eric Musselman before moving to Seattle with PJ Carlesimo and then traveled with the franchise to Oklahoma City. He took over for Carlesimo on an interim basis during the 2008-09 season.
Adrian Griffin
Age: 48
Head coaching record: n/a
Current position: Toronto assistant coach
Need to know: The Journal Sentinel confirmed the Bucks have received permission to speak to Griffin. Scott Skiles brought Griffin into coaching with the Bucks in the 2008 season and Griffin remained on staff through 2010 when the Bucks pushed the Atlanta Hawks to seven games in the first round of the playoffs. Griffin then moved to Chicago to coach under Tom Thibodeau from 2010-15 before stints in Orlando and Oklahoma City before joining the Raptors under Nick Nurse in 2018.
Griffin played for six teams in nine seasons in the NBA from 1999-2008.
Charles Lee
Age: 38
Head coaching record: n/a
Current position: Bucks associate head coach
Need to know: Lee is one of three finalists for the head coaching job in Detroit and he interviewed for the open position in Toronto. ESPN reported that he would be in the mix for consideration for the Bucks head job.
Lee broke into the NBA in 2014 under Budenholzer in Atlanta and came to Milwaukee in 2018-19. He was promoted to the position of associate head coach at the beginning of this season. After finishing his playing career at Bucknell University, Lee played for several seasons in Europe before returning to his alma mater to begin coaching in 2012.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks head coach tracker: Team has permission to see Kenny Atkinson