Bucks head coaching tracker: Team interested in Nick Nurse, Mark Jackson, Scott Brooks
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 thereafter that in the early stages of the search that “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 options.”
Bookmark this page as those options are gradually revealed (candidates will be listed in alphabetical order):
Kenny Atkinson
Age: 55 (56 on June 2)
NBA 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 i 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, though he nearly took the Charlotte job last season before changing his mind.
Joseph Blair
Age: 48
NBA head coaching record: n/a
Current position: Washington assistant
Need to know: The Journal Sentinel confirmed the Bucks' interest in Blair, who was hired by Wizards' head coach Wes Unseld Jr. at the start of the 2021-22 season. Prior to that Blair spent time on the benches in Minnesota (2020-21) and Philadelphia (2019-20). After three years as an assistant with the G League's Rio Grande Vipers, he was promoted to head coach in 2018-19 and led that team to a champinship. Blair had a long professional career overseas after helping the University of Arizona to the Final Four in 1994. He was drafted by Seattle in the second round in 1996 but not appear in an NBA game.
James Borrego
Age: 45
NBA head coaching record: 148-183 (regular season), 0-2 (play-in tournament)
Current position: n/a
Need to know: Borrego was dismissed in Charlotte after the 2021-22 season in which he guided the Hornets to their first winning record (43-39) since 2015-16 but had lost in the opening game of the play-in tournament for consecutive seasons. The Journal Sentinel confirmed Milwaukee's interest in Borrego, who was reportedly in the mix to interview for the open Bucks position in 2018, but ultimately accepted the job in Charlotte. Borrego broke into the NBA in 2003 in San Antonio before moving to New Orleans in 2010-11 under Monty Williams. Borrego moved to Orlando under Jacque Vaughn in 2012-13 and went 10-20 as the Magic's interim head coach in 2014-15 before moving to back to San Antonio from 2015-18. Borrego began his coaching career at his alma mater after graduating from the University of San Diego.
Scott Brooks
Age: 57
NBA 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 P.J. 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
NBA 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.
Mark Jackson
Age: 48
NBA head coaching record: 121-109 (regular season), 9-10 (postseason)
Current position: ESPN analyst
Need to know: The Journal Sentinel confirmed the Bucks' interest in Jackson, who has not coached since being dismissed by Golden State after the 2013-14 season when he guided an emerging Warriors team to a 51-win regular season. The Warriors won the NBA title under Steve Kerr the next year. In the last year, Jackson interviewed for positions for the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings. Warriors owner Joe Lacob said publicly Jackson didn't hire a strong staff and did not get along well with other members of the organization, though star Stephen Curry said he had a good relationship with his former coach.
Charles Lee
Age: 38
NBA 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. The Journal Sentinel confirmed he will get a chance to interview for the Bucks position, also.
Lee broke into the NBA in 2014 under Budenholzer in Atlanta and came to Milwaukee in 2018-19. He was promoted to the associate head coach position at the start 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.
Nick Nurse
Age: 55 (56 on July 24)
NBA head coaching record: 227-163 (regular season), 25-16 (postseason), 0-1 (play-in tournament)
Current position: n/a
Need to know: The Journal Sentinel confirmed Milwaukee's interest in Nurse, who who helped the Toronto Raptors overcome a 2-0 series deficit to topple the top-seeded Bucks in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals en route to Toronto's first NBA title. The team won 53 games and advanced to the second-round in 2020, a season in which he was also the Coach of the Year. But, the Raptors missed the playoffs two of the last three years, leading to his dismissal after this last season. Nurse broke into the league in 2013-14 under Raptors coach Dwane Casey and was an assistant until taking the head job prior to the 2018-19 campaign.
Nurse began coaching in the British Basketball League as he played and coached for the Derby Rams in 1990-91. He returned to the United States for college assistant jobs from 1991-95 before returning to Europe through 2006. Nurse took over the Iowa Energy of the G League in 2010-11 and won championships in 2011 and 2013.
Chris Quinn
Age: 39
NBA head coaching record: n/a
Current position: Miami assistant coach
Need to know: The Journal Sentinel confirmed the Bucks received permission to interview Quinn, who is in his ninth season as an assistant coach for the Heat, coaching under Erik Spoelstra. His roots are in player development, and he also worked closely with the Heat G League affiliate early in his coaching career. He filled in for Spoelstra for three games as the head coaching during the 2021-22 season, and the team went 2-1 in those games.
Kelvin Sampson
Age: 67
NBA head coaching record: n/a
Current position: University of Houston head coach
Need to know: The Journal Sentinel confirmed the Bucks interviewed the Houston head coach, who has a 657-301 career record over a 30-year career in college that has spanned stops at Washington State, Oklahoma, Indiana and Houston. Under his direction the Cougars have become a national power. Sampson was also a Bucks assistant coach from 2008-11 under head coach Scott Skiles after essentially being barred from coaching in the NCAA for five years due to rules infractions. Sampson also was an assistant with the Houston Rockets under head coach Kevin McHale.
Kevin Young
Age: 41
NBA head coaching record: n/a
Current position: Phoenix associate head coach
Need to know: Young was promoted to his current position after helping former head coach Monty Williams guide the Suns to the 2020-21 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Bucks. In 2021-22 Young filled in as the acting head coach when Williams was in the league's health and safety protocols. Young broke into the NBA under former Philadelphia head coach Brett Brown in 2016-17. He had a player development background before then, working in the G League for the Delaware Blue Coats. He was their head coach in 2010-11 before moving to coach the Iowa Wolves for two seasons before moving back to coach the Blue Coats from 2014-17. There, he coached Thanasis Antetokounmpo. He began his coaching career in Ireland as the head coach of the Shamrock Rovers Hoops in 2006-07.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks head coaching tracker: Team interested in Nick Nurse, Scott Brooks
