Bucks' Jon Horst says 'urgency' to win led to Adrian Griffin's firing - ESPN

MILWAUKEE — Bucks general manager Jon Horst dismissed the idea that input from players is what led him to fire coach Adrian Griffin on Tuesday after just 43 games.

Horst outlined his decision to fire Griffin at a news conference before Wednesday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, saying he wanted to improve the group at a coaching level in order to maximize the team's championship window this season. But he denied speculation that Griffin had lost the confidence of his players.

«This is not about players comments,» Horst said on Wednesday. «This is not about things said or unsaid. This is my job. This is the organization's job at the top to evaluate every single day all areas of the organization and feel like whether we're getting or not getting the most we can out of that group. If we feel like we could maximize the talent of this group better, we made a change. That's why we made it.»

Doc Rivers on Wednesday reached an agreement in principle to become the team's next coach, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, but Horst said he would not comment until a deal became official.

Instead, Horst detailed why he was firing a coach he had just hired in June.

While Horst defended the decision he made this past summer to replace Mike Budenholzer with Griffin, he also acknowledged that the dynamics of the team had changed since then — mainly, they acquired superstar Damian Lillard.

«The dynamics and the things that changed after that I think created even more of an urgency,» Horst said. «These are special opportunities. The talent became even more special. The commitment to the team even more significant.»

He added: «I also would say that we believe that this is a good team right now. And with improvements, we have a