How Adrian Griffin's coaching career has come full circle to the Milwaukee Bucks

When Adrian Griffin was hired as the 17th head coach in the history of the Milwaukee Bucks, he noted how it was a "full circle" moment for him – a return to the place where he began his coaching career.

Here is a look back at how that all that started from the people involved:

In the spring of 2008, the Milwaukee Bucks were going through an organization overhaul. John Hammond replaced Larry Harris as general manager on April 11, and in just over a month’s time Hammond hired Scott Skiles as his new head coach and Jon Horst as director of basketball operations.

Skiles hired Kelvin Sampson, Joe Wolf, Jim Boylan and Lionel Hollins as assistant coaches. Bill Peterson remained from the previous regime.

Horst: (Skiles) was really creative, he was really smart, he was really tough and he demanded that out of his staff. So, I think when ‘Griff’ talks about that as a training ground or an opportunity to kind of start, that’s what he saw. Those assistants were held accountable, they needed to be competitive, they were pushed to be creative. They did a lot of things defensively and offensively that I think the NBA does now. Scott was a really, really good coach.

Hammond and his front office began to reshape the roster also, and a busy summer was capped by a three-team deal on Aug. 13 that brought Luke Ridnour and Adrian Griffin to the Bucks from Oklahoma City.

Horst: It was kind of the culture we wanted to set, so Scott knew him more than John or I or Jeff Weltman or Billy McKinney or Dave Babcock or any of the group, but I do remember us being excited that he was a part of what was coming to us.

Griffin: That trade, getting traded like that it kind of broke my spirit during the summer, so I didn’t train. I kind of lost something. I had always been in the gym, I had always been hungry, and I was around 33, 34 at that time, and I just didn’t have it anymore.

Griffin had spent parts of three seasons playing for Skiles in Chicago, which was when the head coach first planted the seed of a career in coaching.

Griffin: I was playing my last year in Chicago (2007-08) and I wasn’t getting any playing time because we were playing a lot of the younger guys – which they were really good – but at the time, as veterans, you always feel like you got a lot more in your tank. But again, my upbringing, my father always told me to do the right thing – even when things don’t go your way – that’s when you show your true character. So I just started working with kind of the younger guys, teaching them the tricks of the trade that I learned over the years and keeping a good attitude and tried to be a good teammate. The head coach, Scott Skiles at the time, he came up to me and said, "Hey, I appreciate what you’re doing with the younger guys and when you retire I have a job for you."

P.J. Carlesimo, former Oklahoma City head coach: It shows how smart and perceptive Scott is. Anybody that sat on the other bench and coached against Scott will tell you first-hand how good a player he is and frankly how much he resembled Scott as a player. He was so competitive, worked so hard, possession by possession. You watch him on the sideline coach one game and you knew exactly what he was like. So it’s easy to understand why Adrian appealed to him so much and he saw what Adrian was doing with other guys on his team.

Before the trade, the 33-year-old Griffin had just finished his ninth season in the league after splitting time between Chicago and the Seattle franchise, which had just moved to Oklahoma City.

After being acquired by the Bucks, Griffin was waived on Oct. 27, just as the team was about to head to Chicago for the season opener.

Horst: I do think he was the last decision we had to make and it was a very tough decision because we really wanted to set a culture and to kind of change the culture and Scott really believed in him and his ability to do that, and we thought he could still play. There were some financial ramifications at that time. I think he had a partial guaranteed contract and we were somewhat close to the luxury tax for a team that hadn’t won that many games the year before, so I think there was a financial component to it more than anything and we made the tough decision to kind of let of him go.

Griffin: In 2008, I retired. But guys like me don’t retire. They just tell you you’re done (laughs).

More: Adrian Griffin brings an authentic, positive command to Bucks head coaching job

But in that same call to cut him, Skiles offered Griffin a job as an assistant coach.

Griffin: I thought it over. But I was smart enough to know that these jobs don’t come along often and it was a unique opportunity for me to transition seamlessly into a coaching position. Not just any coaching position, but with a coach I played for that I had a lot of respect for, who I felt also valued me enough to offer me an assistant coaching job. I thought it would be a great opportunity. I loved the city. Milwaukee has obviously grown tremendously since then, but I just thought that everything was aligned. Great city, great people, great organization, and working for Scott Skiles I thought it would be a tremendous opportunity.

Joe Wolf, former Bucks assistant: When you have a strong leader like Scott Skiles and somebody that is well thought out, you don’t really second guess it. Scott is one of the most intelligent people I’ve been around in the professional game.

After the season opener in Chicago, the Bucks then traveled to Oklahoma City and were back in town on Oct. 30. By then, Griffin had moved from the players' locker room to the coaches'.

Bill Peterson, former Bucks assistant: So one morning at Cousins Center, my office was in the back, it was a big office and there were a couple other people in there with me. (Skiles) walked in at like 8 o’clock, 8:30, he sits down right in front of my desk, put his feet on my desk and he said, "BP, I hired Griff last night. And Griff’s desk is going to be right here." And he pointed across from me and he said, "He’s going to be your assistant, player development. I want you to mentor him and teach him and help him as much as you can. He’s got really good feel. I think he’s going to be a really good coach one day." So he got up and got ready to leave and when he got to the door he turned around and looked at me and he said, "Look, I didn’t hire him to fire you, OK? I don’t want him to take your spot, I want you to really help him." That was very kind of him to say that. I know how NBA coaching goes.

Wolf: Nobody in that coaching room had a problem with Griff moving from the players' locker room to the coaches' locker room. It was something that just made total sense, like yeah, he’s going to help us. It was truly unusual but it truly was an experience that we were all fascinated with but enjoyed thoroughly because of who Griff was and the fervor he had to become a better coach.

The 2008-09 Bucks went 34-48, an eight-win improvement from the year before.

Griffin: It taught me a lot about the sacrifices coaches make. The time and the energy. Because you don’t see that a lot on the player’s side. …I had one perception of what coaches' work looked like and then being with (Peterson) that summer and for that season it opened my eyes like, OK, this is what a real coaching professional does. His dedication, his commitment to getting guys better and the sacrificing he’s doing, whatever it takes to enhance their growth.

Charlie Bell, former Bucks guard: I loved it. Just for the simple fact of you can’t play forever and I gotta give coach Skiles credit for recognizing just the talent of coaching and teaching that Griff had. I’m sure that they saw him before practice talking to guys, after practice talking to guys, because not everybody can coach. Not everybody has that patience. Not everybody has the respect of his teammates, and he has all that. For the coaching staff to pick him to be like, hey, we want you to be on our coaching staff, that just lets you know the respect he had even back then.

Milwaukee then jumped to a 46-36 record in 2009-10 behind the play of rookie point guard Brandon Jennings, center Andrew Bogut and the midseason acquisition of John Salmons.

Jennings: He was always cool. Never into anything bad. Just a good coach, a good person. It’s just the conversation, in the film room, guys have a chance to talk. When I was there he was doing film and he had to break down team concepts and stuff, so he was definitely about the team and "we working together" and "if we do this, then we will have these great results." It was always like that.

Bell: He was the same as a player, he just wasn’t practicing (laughs). He was just around, wiling to offer his advice, things that he did that worked, things that he did that didn’t work. The only difference was him sitting in the coaches' office and not in the locker room with us. But he was always around and we always looked at him like a teammate even though he was on the coaching staff. He was somebody that I respected and somebody I almost wanted to mold my game after his a little bit. I was able to play a nice, decent career also being undrafted. He was just one of them guys that people gravitated towards him because his demeanor. I don’t think I ever seen him get rattled. He’s one of them guys who’s always very level-headed, seeing things from different angles. Nothing really changed.

Horst: He was all in. And it wasn’t like he couldn’t play anymore. He could still play but he knew he wanted to coach and he was all in from the get-go. I never knew Griff as a player. I only knew him as a coach. He came in and hit the ground running from Day 1. He worked hard, he built relationships with players. He acted as a coach immediately. I’ve seen it differently, is just what I would say. It hasn’t always been like that when guys try to make that transition. I think a ton of credit for him, he knew what he wanted to do and he went for it and was all in from the first moment.

Wolf: I remember how he was so ingrained into bettering himself as a coach every day. He was a student of the game when he played and when he had to transition into coaching he became a bigger student of how to coach the game. There’s a lot of people you can learn how to coach the professional game from, but Scott Skiles is top of the mark in terms of understanding the game, how to teach the game, how to formulate practice plans, so Griff got an early introduction into what a professional coach needs, what a professional coach needs from his staff, the understanding of game management, player management, locker room management. And he was all in from Day 1.

Peterson: He just kind of had a gift. He wanted to be better. He wanted to learn and grow. One day we were sitting there talking and everybody was gone and it was just me and him and he said, "BP, be patient with me. I want to learn. I want to get it." He would come in some days and go "why are we doing this? Teach me. How come we’re doing this coaching-wise." I’d say, "Griff, you’re gonna see a lot of things you think are good and you like and you’re going to see some things you don’t like, and that you don’t think you would do, and that’s shaping your philosophy as a coach." You don’t want to do the things you don’t think work or you don’t like and here you are sitting there watching as a player development guy every day, you’re watching him maybe call certain defenses or run defenses this way or treat players a certain way or run practice a certain way; and you see what works and what doesn’t work and you need to put that down, you need to categorize that and keep it in your notes and stuff so when you get an opportunity one day you’re going to be a really, really good head coach. He would listen and write stuff down and ask questions. A lot of guys aren’t like that.

The team lost to Atlanta in seven games in the first round of the playoffs, and after the season Griffin left the Bucks to take a more prominent assistant position with the Chicago Bulls and their new head coach, Tom Thibodeau.

Griffin had played one season in Houston (2003-04), where Thibodeau was an assistant under Jeff Van Gundy.

Van Gundy: If you’re talking about coaches, Scott and Tom are not easily impressed. So you’re talking about overcoming a very discerning audience.

Carlesimo: It might not be easy for some Bucks fans to appreciate the fact that this guy kind of embodied that Chicago team when it was Thibs and when it was Scott. You gotta admit, those guys came to play. They laced it up and they came to play night in and night out. You look back, you fully can expect Adrian’s team to defend, to play very hard and for him to be in his way – it’ll be a lot nicer way than I would’ve done it or certainly than either Thibs or Scotty did it – but he’s going be demanding of the team. And he’s going to make sure they play very, very hard and they play defense and that they’re competitive.

Griffin would coach under Thibodeau for five seasons before reuniting with Skiles in Orlando for one season (2015-16).

Van Gundy: (Griffin learned) the entirety of running a program and not being pigeonholed. As the bigger staff has evolved, there’s been a narrowing of focus of each coach. I think when he first started into coaching the smaller staff really would benefit you because you could get your hand in everything that goes directly to winning and losing. I think both of those guys did a great job in developing players and putting them in the right places to fit their skills. And then the demands that it takes to become a very good, either individual or team defender, or both. I think the overall organization of a complete program versus just being labeled a defensive guy or an offensive guy. I think that’s what he would have most learned, is how to run the entirety of a program.

Carlesimo: They’re going to see elements of those guys and of those Bulls teams in Adrian’s team. There’s no question about that. It’s not going to be look the other way or OK, I’ll wait till tomorrow to make the point. When the point needs to be made, the point’s going to be made. I think it’ll be made probably, slightly more diplomatic way than either Thibs or Scotty or certainly as I would’ve handled it. As a former player, and particularly a player who understands what it is like to be out there and playing for 48 minutes and playing 82 games, he’ll be demanding but he’ll command that respect because the players know he did the same thing himself.

Horst: (Skiles is) brilliant. He’s an incredibly smart person basketball-wise and other. He’s a really good person. Very hard worker. Demanded a ton of respect and accountability and really ran a tight ship. Very tight practice plans, very organized, get in, do your work, be competitive, kind of no b.s. Very, very professional, efficient, competitive hard-working environment that he orchestrated and ran.

Griffin then moved on to Oklahoma City under Billy Donovan (2016-18) before heading to Toronto to work for Nick Nurse (2018-23).

The Bucks fired head coach Mike Budenholzer on May 4, and after an extensive search the club settled on Griffin. His hire became official on June 5.Kathy Griffin, Adrian's wife: “He was so calm! I’m the one jumping up and down (laughs). I called everyone in my family I said we gotta get to the private hangar in the airport, "AG" will be flying back in and they offered him the job. We all went home, we put on Bucks shirts, we got green and white balloons and welcomed him at the airport. It was so surreal to him because he was like, "all of my hard work had paid off." And it was just kind of an ah-ha moment for him. Then throughout the weekend he was like, "God is so good, God is so good! Look at this! Look at this!" And he was just so overcome with gratitude I think it was just the whole weekend was so amazing. Every time I looked at him he was just smiling. He was ready to get to work though.

Adrian Griffin: This is just a dream come true. It is. People say that all the time, but I started my coaching career here in Milwaukee 15 years ago. And it’s just fun. It’s a testament of hard work and perseverance, being truly blessed and it’s full circle. And I’m back here. And I’m standing up here with Jon. Jon and I, you know, we started together. Just a strong connection from Day 1. And the city is great. It has expanded. It’s grown since then. But one thing that has stayed the same is the fans. They were awesome then. They cheered us on and just from the outside coming in and all our battles over the years, coming into that arena, it’s loud, it’s energetic. Milwaukee has one of the best fanbases in the world. I’m just excited to be a part of this family. Words really can’t express how I feel right now. I’ve prepared for this for so long. And let’s be real, what first-time head coach gets to coach the Milwaukee Bucks with all the special talent on this team? So, I’m extremely humbled.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Adrian Griffin's coaching career came full circle to Milwaukee Bucks