Phoenix Suns to hire former Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer three years after losing to his Milwaukee team in Finals
Former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer is back in the NBA, as he will be the next head coach of the Phoenix Suns, according to sources speaking to the Arizona Republic.
Budenholzer, 54, is a Holbrook, Arizona, native and guided Milwaukee to the 2020-21 NBA title. The Bucks beat the Suns in six games in a series that concluded July 20, 2021.
ESPN first reported the Suns' intent to hire Budenholzer after the organization fired Frank Vogel after one season. Phoenix went 49-33 and were swept out of the first round by Minnesota. New owner Mat Ishbia fired Monty Williams – who coached the team in the Finals against Milwaukee – after the 2022-23 season.
Budenholzer was fired by the Bucks after the 2022-23 season also. The team went 58-24 and were the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed, but lost in the first round to the Miami Heat. He was still owed $8 million for this upcoming season on a contract extension he signed after the championship.
He compiled a 391-271 regular season record in Milwaukee from 2018-23 and went to two Eastern Conference finals.
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How many coaches have coached the team they beat in the Finals?
By taking the Suns job, Budenholzer becomes part of a trivia answer as only two other NBA head coaches have won a title with one team and then coached the team they beat.
Phil Jackson won the first of six titles in Chicago in 1991 by toppling the Los Angeles Lakers. He then coached the Lakers from 1999-2011, winning five more championships.
The most similar path to Budenholzer's, though, is Bill Fitch. He coached the 1980-81 Boston Celtics to a title over the Houston Rockets, and then was fired two years later after 63- and 56-win seasons that ended in the conference finals and the second round. A 4-0 series sweep at the hand of the Bucks in 1983 ended his four-year run with the Celtics.
Fitch was then immediately hired by Houston in 1983-84.
Alex Hannum made the move in reverse in 1966-67, as he led the Philadelphia 76ers to the title over the San Francisco Warriors team he coached the previous three seasons.
Phoenix will be Budenholzer’s third head coaching job, as he went 213-197 from 2013-18 with the Atlanta Hawks. He guided them to the 2015 Eastern Conference finals. His 60.4% winning percentage is 12th best in NBA history among coaches who have coached at least three seasons and eighth-best among those who have been a head coach for at least 10 seasons.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Phoenix Suns to hire former Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer
