Milwaukee Bucks Coaching Candidates: Hammon, Nurse, Vogel, Lee and D’Antoni

• The Milwaukee Bucks fired coach Mike Budenholzer after an early playoff exit
• Champion coaches Nick Nurse and Frank Vogel could replace Budenholzer
• The Bucks can make history if they choose Becky Hammon to be their next coach

The search is on for the next Milwaukee Bucks head coach.

The Bucks decided to part ways with Mike Budenholzer after shockingly losing to the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs.

Sports Brief looks at five candidates to replace Budenholzer in Milwaukee.

Becky Hammon 

The Bucks can make history with their next coaching selection if they choose Becky Hammon to lead Milwaukee in the 2023-24 season.

The 46-year-old is coming off a year in which she led Las Vegas to the WNBA title and the Commissioner's Cup championship. She also won the Coach Of the Year award in her first season as the Aces’ head coach.

How many rings does Larry Bird have? A list of Larry Bird’s achievements

NBA

Hammon has experience coaching in the NBA, spending eight years as an assistant to legendary San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.

If Milwaukee hires Hammon, she will become the first female head coach in the NBA.

Nick Nurse 

Nurse is a proven winner, having won the NBA championship with Toronto in 2019. The Raptors decided to move on from Nurse after they lost to the Chicago Bulls in this year’s Play-In tournament.

Nurse’s most outstanding achievement apart from winning the title came in 2020 when he won Coach of the Year.

He captured the award after leading the Raptors to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference despite the losses of crucial championship pieces Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.

Frank Vogel 

Vogel is another candidate who has won the title before. He led the Los Angeles Lakers to the championship inside the Orlando bubble in 2020.

What is the best football team in the NFL right now? Ranking the 10 best NFL teams at the moment

NFL

Vogel is a genius when it comes to creating defensive schemes. He transformed the Lakers and the Pacers, building No. 1 defenses with his Los Angeles and Indiana teams, per CBS Sports.  

He will look to make his mark on a Bucks team that had the fourth-best defensive rating in the NBA this season.

Mike D’Antoni 

The Bucks had trouble executing their half-court offense this season.

There is no better coach to fix that problem than offensive maestro Mike D’Antoni. He helped transform the Phoenix Suns with his up-tempo style, making them the league’s No. 1 offense in three different years.

He also worked wonders when he joined the Houston Rockets, making the James Harden-led squad the No. 1 offense in the league.

One concern the Bucks may have with D’Antoni is his age, as he is already 71. The Bucks may be reluctant to offer D’Antoni a long-term contract.

A list of all Lakers head coaches: Who is the most successful Purple and Gold Coach?

NBA

Charles Lee

The Bucks can hire in-house and promote Lee to the head coaching position. Several head coaches in the NBA have come from the Budenholzer tree, including Utah Jazz’s Quin Snyder, Memphis Grizzlies’ Taylor Jenkins, and Los Angeles Lakers’ Darvin Ham.

The 38-year-old Lee is currently in the running to become the next head coach of the Detroit Pistons.

Heat eliminate Bucks in 5

Sports Brief recently reported on the Bucks' loss to the Heat in Game 5 of their first-round series.

Jimmy Butler scored 42 points in the Heat's 128-126 overtime win over the Bucks.

The Bucks became the sixth 1-seed to lose to the No. 8 seed in the playoffs.