MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Bucks dismissed head coach Doc Rivers on Sunday night after the team finished the 2025–26 season with a 32–50 record and missed the playoffs, according to an ESPN report.
Rivers has one year remaining on a $40 million contract, which the Bucks will pay. Team officials and Rivers are discussing a possible front office role for the 2026–27 season, according to sources.
Milwaukee ended the season outside the playoffs for the first time since 2015–16. Rivers compiled a 97–103 record during his tenure, which spanned parts of three seasons. The Bucks hired him in January 2024 to replace Adrian Griffin, who the team fired despite a 30–13 start. Milwaukee went 17–19 under Rivers to close that season and lost to the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs.
The Bucks posted a 48–34 record the following season but again lost to the Pacers in the first round. Indiana advanced to the NBA Finals that year.
The season also included reported tensions between the team and star player Giannis Antetokounmpo, who appeared in 36 games but said he was available to play late in the campaign.
Rivers, 64, will enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in August. He has coached in the NBA for 27 seasons and holds a 1,194–866 career record, ranking sixth in all-time wins. He led the Boston Celtics to an NBA championship in the 2007–08 season.
Rivers began his coaching career with the Orlando Magic in 1999 and won NBA Coach of the Year in his first season. He later coached the Celtics from 2004 to 2013, followed by stints with the Los Angeles Clippers from 2013 to 2020, the Philadelphia 76ers from 2020 to 2023, and the Bucks from 2024 to 2026.
Before coaching, Rivers played 13 seasons in the NBA, including stints with the Atlanta Hawks, Clippers, New York Knicks, and San Antonio Spurs.
