Terry Stotts being on Adrian Griffin’s staff with the Milwaukee Bucks helped ease Damian Lillard’s transition to his new team.
“I think the fact that Terry [Stotts] is here, I played with Terry for nine years and a lot of the things that we run, he’s controlling that offense. So it’s all familiar,” Lillard said after his debut in Los Angeles. “A lot of times guys are asking me questions, like when we talking about plays, because I’m familiar with a lot of this stuff.”
Now Stotts is out, with multiple reports he has stepped down as an assistant coach with the Bucks. No reason for the move was given and it caught the Bucks’ head coach off-guard.
Bucks coach Adrian Griffin tells reporters that he was caught off guard by Terry Stott’s decision to step down.
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) October 19, 2023
“You’re going to have to ask Terry…It was his decision.”
There had been an underlying tension between Stotts and Griffin that was exposed when Griffin yelled at Stotts to join a coaches’ huddle during practice, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic. That moment, however, seems more a symptom than the primary issue.
Stotts, 65, had been out of the NBA for two seasons following his nine seasons as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. Stotts was brought into the Bucks to provide an offensive-minded assistant to go next to the defensive-minded Griffin. Stotts also provided an experienced head coaching voice to the rookie Griffin as he tries to helm a title contender in the Bucks.
This shouldn’t impact the Bucks or their offense dramatically — they still have Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, two All-NBA, top 75 of all-time players on the roster.
“It’s totally, totally, totally different from last year to this year,” Antetokounmpo said of Stott’s offense. “I think even our offense from last year was very, very good. So much space for everybody to operate. But I feel like this offense allows Dame, me, Khris [Middleton]... to be able to be great and now open in new ways.”
The offense has been installed; now it is up to Griffin and his staff to manage it.
