Adrian Griffin

Adrian Darnell Griffin (born July 4, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as the head coach for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the NBA as a shooting guard and small forward from 1999 to 2008. Griffin grew up in Wichita, Kansas, and played college basketball for the Seton Hall Pirates.

Controversy
In August 2020, Griffin was publicly accused of domestic abuse by his former wife, Audrey Sterling. The Raptors did not take any action against Griffin or conduct any investigation in regards to the allegations. Griffin filed a defamation suit against Sterling in 2021, which was settled in 2022.

College career
Griffin attended Seton Hall University and was a three-year starter. As a senior, he averaged 16.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game, and won All-Big East second team honors. In 2010, Griffin was inducted into the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career
Griffin was not selected in the 1996 NBA draft. He spent the first three years of his career in the American minor leagues and in Italy (playing 8 games for Cordivari Roseto from July to October 1998). Griffin was selected to the All-Rookie First Team in 1997 while playing for the Connecticut Pride of the Continental Basketball Association. He was selected to the All-CBA First Team and All-Defensive Team with the Pride in 1998. Griffin led the Pride to the CBA championship in the 1998–99 season as he was named the Finals Most Valuable Player. He was also selected as the CBA Most Valuable Player and earned All-CBA First Team and All-Defensive Team honors.

Griffin began his National Basketball Association (NBA) career in 1999–2000 with the Boston Celtics. As a rookie, his averages were 7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.61 steals per game.

Over six seasons, he played for the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls, averaging 4.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and one steal per game. A career highlight was becoming a starter for the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals.

After one season with the Mavericks, Griffin signed a three-year deal with the Chicago Bulls on July 17, 2006.

On February 21, 2008, Griffin was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics in an 11-player deal that involved players from the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the SuperSonics.

On August 13, 2008, Griffin was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team, six-player deal involving the Bucks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Oklahoma City Thunder that also sent Milwaukee's Mo Williams to Cleveland, Cleveland's Joe Smith and Milwaukee's Desmond Mason to Oklahoma City, and Cleveland's Damon Jones and Oklahoma City's Luke Ridnour to Milwaukee.

Assistant coach (2008–2023)
Shortly after his playing career ended, he was hired by Milwaukee Bucks head coach Scott Skiles as an assistant, where he would work for the next two seasons.

On September 8, 2010, he became an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls under Tom Thibodeau, where he coached for five years.

Along with working in the NBA, in 2014, Griffin accepted the offer to work with the USA coaching staff that helped win the gold medal in the 2014 FIBA World Cup. This team featured many NBA stars including: Stephen Curry, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving.

On June 26, 2015, he was hired by the Orlando Magic to be their top assistant coach.

On July 1, 2016, Griffin was hired by the Oklahoma City Thunder as an assistant coach.

On July 25, 2018, Griffin was hired by the Toronto Raptors as an assistant coach. Griffin was an instrumental piece of the Raptors 2019 championship run, where they defeated the Golden State Warriors in 6 games of the 2019 NBA Finals, yielding Griffin his first championship ring. On April 10, 2022, Griffin served as the acting head coach for the Raptors' final game of the 2021–22 regular season against the Knicks.

Milwaukee Bucks (2023–2024)
On June 5, 2023, Griffin was named head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. Griffin was fired on January 23, 2024. The team was 30–13 and in second place in the Eastern Conference at the time, though their wins had not been resounding. After his firing, the Bucks went 5–8 in their last 13 games before the 2024 NBA All-Star break began on February 16. With Milwaukee owning the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and the top-seeded Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla having coached in the 2023 NBA All Star Game the year prior, the Bucks’ coaching staff was appointed to coach in the 2024 game, however due to Griffin’s termination, Rivers instead coached the Eastern Conference All-Stars in the contest. A few weeks prior to the game, Rivers said he would award his All Star ring and bonus check to Griffin.

Personal life
Griffin is a Christian. His father worked for Boeing in Wichita, Kansas, while also working as a pastor in a local church.

Griffin completed his bachelor's and master's degrees from Seton Hall. He earned his Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership at Concordia University Chicago in January 2022. His doctoral dissertation was titled "How Active NBA Assistant Coaches Experience Stress, Stressors, Coping Strategies, and Interventions in a Competitive Sports Environment."

Griffin married Audrey Sterling in 1996. Together, they had four children - two boys and two girls. Griffin and Audrey divorced in 2015. Griffin went on to marry a second time, to his current wife, Kathy. Griffin's son Adrian Jr. was a McDonald's All-American and five-star recruit in the class of 2021 and was drafted 16th overall to the Atlanta Hawks in 2022. Griffin's other son, Alan, played his first two college seasons at Illinois before transferring to Syracuse his junior season. He last played for the Milwaukee Bucks on a summer league contract. His daughter, Aubrey, was also McDonald's All-American and five-star recruit in the class of 2019 and currently plays for UConn.