Former Sixers Head Coach Doc Rivers - Photo by YONG KIM / Staff Photographer
MILWAUKEE, WI (WSAU) – The Milwaukee Bucks and Doc Rivers have agreed to a contract that will make Rivers one of the highest-paid coaches in the NBA.
Rivers’ deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, is “in the range of $40 million” and is valid until the 2026–2027 season.
This deal will make Rivers the third highest-paid coach in the league, with only San Antonio’s Greg Popovich and Miami’s Erik Spoelstra having a higher yearly salary average. Rivers will also be the third Bucks head coach currently on the payroll, as they also have money owed to both Adrian Griffin and Mike Budenholzer.
The move to let go of first-year head coach Adrian Griffin came as a “surprise” to Giannis Antetokounmpo, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski stated that “Bucks general manager Jon Horst believes Griffin will develop into a very good NBA head coach but lost confidence that he could do it within the timeline of the Bucks’ immediate championship window, sources said.”
Although Rivers has failed to guide his teams on strong postseason runs in recent years—neither his Clippers with Kawi Leonard and Paul George nor his Sixers with Joel Embiid and James Harden advanced past the second round of the playoffs—his success as an NBA Champion head coach with the Boston Celtics and being only three wins away from passing Larry Brown for eighth most wins by an NBA coach in league history and only 60 wins shy of passing the legendary Phil Jackson for seventh all-time speaks for itself.
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