Wyc Grousbeck said the Bucks called him as a reference during Doc Rivers hiring process
The Celtics governor recommended Rivers to the Bucks, saying Boston would not have won in 2008 without him.
Celtics governor Wyc Grousbeck said the Bucks called him during their hiring process for Doc Rivers.
Milwaukee fired head coach Adrian Griffin last month, a little more than halfway through his first season on the job. They hired Rivers, who spent nearly a decade coaching the Celtics, shortly after.
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Rivers is second on the Celtics all-time list for most games coached with the franchise, trailing only Red Auerbach. He also coached the Celtics to their most recent NBA title in 2008.
“I love Doc. I got a reference call on Doc from the Bucks and I made a truthful statement,” Grousbeck said. “We would not have won in 2008 without Doc. He took that team, molded it together, and led the way. He had a ton to do with the championship and he’s always going to be very special, a special friend of mine.”
Rivers had joined the Bucks in a consulting role before his hiring.
Milwaukee zeroed in on Rivers as a possible replacement for Griffin after an “airing out session” when Milwaukee was eliminated from the In-Season Tournament according to Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes.
A lack of big wins, along with bickering in the locker room, contributed to Griffin losing his job, Haynes reported.
The Bucks have lost seven of it’s last 10 games under Rivers. Milwaukee, which won a title in 2021, is currently third in the Eastern Conference standings.
Grousbeck experienced the pressure to find a coach last year when he tapped Joe Mazzulla to take over after Ime Udoka was suspended.
He said Brad Stevens’ recommendation helped convince him to hire Mazzulla.
“He said look, I’m very confident that it’s Joe,” Grousbeck said. “I knew of Joe. I had dinner with Joe. In fact a few months before I had gotten to know him a bit. I was really taken by his style and everything about it.”
“He’s intense and really driven and passionate,” Grousbeck added. “I felt like he could be a really inspirational coach. That was when he was an assistant. And then, when Brad who really knew him which I didn’t, made a very strong recommendation that he felt it was Joe I went with it. So, give Brad the credit.”
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