Heading into last season, the Milwaukee Bucks were seen as one of the top Eastern Conference contenders. Things most certainly did not go according to plan for them. Milwaukee had an in-season change at head coach as Adrian Griffin was fired, and Doc Rivers was brought in. With Giannis Antetokounmpo out for the series and Damian Lillard missing two games, the Bucks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the first round. Since winning the NBA Finals in 2021, Milwaukee has won just one playoff series in the ensuing three seasons.
This upcoming season, there is much less noise surrounding the Bucks and their NBA Finals chances. They are seen by most being a step below the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference. Entering his first full season as Milwaukee’s head coach, Rivers has seemingly added a former NBA champion to his coaching staff.
Bucks Adding Former Celtics Great To Staff In Unspecified Role
Rajon Rondo Played 16 Seasons In The NBA
According to Baxter Holmes of ESPN, 16-year NBA veteran Rajon Rondo has been a guest coach for Milwaukee at their training camp at UC Irvine. Except it seems that Rondo may be more than just a guest of the team. Rivers told ESPN that Rondo will remain with the team throughout the 2024-25 season.
“You’ll see him a lot,” Rivers said. “That’s all I’ll say.”
Rondo’s exact job title with the team is not yet known. It certainly can’t hurt having such a cerebral basketball mind around the team though. During his playing career, Rondo totaled 7,584 assists and 1,518 steals. Those are the 15th and 50th most respectively in NBA history. He was also named to four All-Defensive teams.
The Bucks announced their assistant coaching staff back in early July. The seven names announced on Rivers’ staff are Darvin Ham, Greg Buckner, Dave Joerger, Rex Kalamian, Joe Prunty, Vin Baker, and Pete Dominguez. Ham was the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, but he was let go by the team after last season.
Rivers And Rondo Have A Lengthy History Together
Rivers didn’t bring in Rondo without any prior knowledge of the four-time All-Star as a person. Rondo’s rookie season as a member of the Boston Celtics came in 2006-07. The Celtics head coach was Rivers. For the first seven seasons of his career, Rondo called Rivers his head coach. The pairing helped guide Boston to the NBA Finals twice, winning it all in 2008.
Rondo later won a second title as a key reserve with the Lakers in 2020. Rivers and Rondo have clearly kept their relationship going throughout the years as Rivers attended Rondo’s wedding in June.
The two men would love to duplicate the success they had back in the 2007-08 season. While Milwaukee is seen as a very likely playoff team, they aren’t amongst the top handful of title contenders according to the betting odds. DraftKings Sportsbook has the Bucks fourth in betting odds to win the Eastern Conference and eighth to win the 2025 NBA Finals.
