Terry Stotts surprises everyone and leaves Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks don’t have a bun oven. Terry Stotts’ return to the NBA as an assistant ended one week before the start of the season. Bucks manager Adrian Griffin confirmed to reporters after Thursday’s practice that Stotts will be parting ways with Milwaukee’s staff. Griffin declined to comment on the situation, but said the decision was Stotts’s. “Of course he surprised us all, but we can only support him. He was a great guy. I learned a lot from him in a very short time. He was really good at his job. He did a great job,” Griffin said. It’s a decision, a personal decision, and we “must respect it.”

Stotts’ presence was critical to the Bucks, as seven-time All-NBA selection Damian Lillard played for Stotts in his first nine NBA seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard said Stotts contacted him directly Wednesday to inform him of his decision. “Everyone was a little surprised,” Lillard said. “It just came out of nowhere. I’ve been in this league so long that I know things like this happen. Everything continues, so things like this and other things that can happen… You have to deal with things and keep moving forward.

Initial rumors suggested that Stotts’ resignation was due to a lack of respect on Griffin’s part. At the end of the training session, Stotts wanted to talk to the players, but Griffin was not happy about it and yelled at the rest of the coaching staff to join him. This brief but powerful incident may have been the reason for the departure of Stotts, a coach with far more stature and experience than Griffin. Griffin will be his boss this season and is facing his first experience leading a team in the NBA.

Stotts has a 517-486 head coaching record with the Atlanta Hawks (2002-04), Bucks (2005-07) and Trail Blazers (2012-21).