Terry Stotts steps down as Bucks assistant days after incident at shootaround: Sources

Although Milwaukee Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin did not mention any sort of issue between himself and assistant coach Terry Stotts on Thursday when he told reporters Stotts was stepping down, their relationship was tenuous, league sources have told The Athletic. There was also a brief incident at Tuesday’s shootaround in Oklahoma City.

Stotts is leaving the team only four months after he returned, Griffin told reporters following the team’s practice.

“It caught all of us off guard, of course, but again, you just support him,” Griffin said. “He was a terrific guy. I learned a lot from him in a very short time. He was really good at what he does. He made a decision – a personal decision – and we just have to respect that.”

When asked for any reasoning given by Stotts for his decision, Griffin told reporters that he didn’t feel that was a question for him to answer but rather something that Stotts would need to clarify.

“You’re going to have to ask Terry,” Griffin said. “He’s a great coach. I really enjoyed getting to know him. Terrific person. It was his decision. I just wish him the best.”

According to sources who witnessed Tuesday’s events, Griffin wrapped up the shootaround and called the team together for a huddle to close out the day and let the players get to post-shootaround shooting drills. During that huddle, Griffin informed the coaches that he wanted to have a separate huddle with them once they wrapped things up.

When the players and coaches broke the huddle, Stotts went in the opposite direction of the coaches’ huddle and instead started walking toward players to discuss the offense. As Stotts attempted to start a conversation with Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Griffin called to Stotts to join the coaching huddle. When Stotts asked for some time with the players, Griffin yelled for Stotts to join the coaches’ huddle. The incident occurred in front of the entire team, those sources said.

While brief, the interaction highlighted the underlying complexity of the relationship between Griffin and Stotts in their first year together in Milwaukee. Around the situation on Thursday, there were two perspectives surrounding Stotts’ resignation: His potential difficulty adapting to a bench role under Griffin after more than a decade as a head coach, and the other being a certain treatment and level of respect that needed to be shown to someone with Stotts’ pedigree.

Griffin, a first-time head coach, has emphasized bringing a renewed sense of energy to the organization. Throughout training camp, many players have complimented Griffin’s emphasis on competitiveness and physicality and enjoyed the way in which Griffin has gone about trying to instill more toughness to the organization.

The Bucks hired Stotts to be Griffin’s lead assistant for multiple reasons. Stotts has 13 years of head coaching experience with three different franchises, including nine seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, and his offensive expertise would play well with Griffin’s defensive focus. Stotts has a 517-486 record in his 13 seasons as head coach in Atlanta, Milwaukee and Portland. Stotts could also be a useful resource for Griffin as he went through various experiences for the first time as a head coach.

Ultimately, though, the partnership between Griffin and Stotts was not meant to be, and Stotts ended it with his resignation. Both Lillard and Khris Middleton told reporters that they were given a heads up of Stotts’ decision on Wednesday night with Lillard telling reporters that Stotts reached out to him personally.

“We spoke directly,” Lillard said. “I don’t expect anything different. We spend so much time around each other in this league. Seven, eighth months a year, practice every day, flights, hotels, dinners, watching film, we share a lot of intimate spaces and like I said, being with him for nine years and him being my head coach, me being the point guard of his team, we spent a lot of time around each other. We know each other really well, even in the two years without him, we stayed in pretty consistent contact. So, I don’t expect anything different than him to call me directly and that’s how it happened.”

Before getting traded to the Bucks at the start of October, Lillard had spent 11 seasons with the Blazers, nine of which were with Stotts as head coach. Despite their close relationship, Lillard said he was just as surprised by the decision as everybody else on the team.

“It kind of came out of nowhere,” Lillard said. “I’ve been in this league long enough to know that these types of things happen. Everything continues, so you’ve got to kind of process things like this and other things that may come up and continue to move forward. For me, knowing Terry as long as I’ve known him – playing for him for nine years and him also making this transition for me easier just having a familiar face be such a huge part of it – was a good thing. I think now that I’m settled in, to see him go is unfortunate. It’s sad to see him go, but like I said, everything is still moving forward.”

Per a team source, the Bucks will take their time in considering all options in filling Stotts’ spot on the staff.

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(Photo: Troy Wayrynen / USA Today)