Tuesday marked the first time Milwaukee Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin roamed the hallways of Paycom Center with his new job.
After spending time as an Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach on Billy Donovan’s staff from 2016 to 2018, Griffin coached against a familiar face, Mark Daigneault.
Even though Daigneault was the OKC Blue head coach at the time, Griffin mentioned his relationship with him when their time in OKC intersected. The Bucks head coach spoke glowingly on the job Daigneault’s done with the Thunder since taking over in 2020.
“I was here in OKC with Mark when he was the head coach of the OKC Blue. He would be in a lot of our meetings with Billy Donovan. He’s an extraordinary coach,” Griffin said pregame. “I’m a student of the game. I studied him. I watched him. You can say (that) he’s a younger coach but he’s past his years as far as his IQ of the game, his feel for the game, the things that he never miss on the court. And how he gets his team every night to play hard. That’s a skill in itself.
“So I’m a big fan of Mark. Definitely can’t underestimate anybody in this league. What OKC is building is very impressive over the years. A lot of that can be attributed to — obviously Sam (Presti) — but Mark’s done a tremendous job.”
Adrian Griffin with some pretty high praise for both Mark Daigneault & SGA: pic.twitter.com/0ky8GRaWQD
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 17, 2023
This is a pretty high compliment from Griffin. He’s one of the top head coaches in the entire league, and he knows Daigneault best considering their shared history in OKC.
The budding head coaching star continues to see his stock rise after finishing No. 2 in Coach of the Year last season. In their first matchup, Daigneault won in dominating fashion against Griffin — albeit in the preseason.
