Rightly or wrongly, head coaches often come under the microscope after disappointing ends to seasons. That has been the case with Mike Budenholzer after the top-seeded Bucks lost their first-round series to the Heat in five games.
Unfortunately, Budenholzer and his family were going through a terrible personal tragedy in the series — one of his three brothers died just before Game 4, the coach confirmed via a spokesperson to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Team sources tell Vardon that Budenholzer’s brother passed away due to injuries from a car accident.
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, a longtime former assistant under Budenholzer, was the first to publicly disclose the death at his press conference ahead of Game 6 on Friday night. Through the team spokesperson, Budenholzer informed Vardon that he “loves and respects” Ham and was comfortable confirming the news.
We send our condolences to the Budenholzer family and their friends.
That’s terrible, feel so bad for the guy. Makes sense as to why he made so many mistakes at the end of the game. Commend him for wanting to coach, but he should have turned the team over to his assistants instead.
Yeah. Agreed. If the rest of the bucks players were aware of the death that also explains a lot. Because they seemed very distracted the last 2 games.
Rest in peace for his brother…