NBA
The Milwaukee Bucks have interviewed University of Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated18 May 2023
After fizzling out in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs, the Milwaukee Bucks fired head coach Mike Budenholzer. He spent five seasons with the Bucks and helped lead them to an NBA title in 2021. Milwaukee is now taking its time to find a new head coach and they are considering a large number of candidates. The latest of the bunch is University of Houston head coach, Kelvin Sampson.
The longtime college head coach has been in the business for a long time. He started his coaching career in 1987-88 with Washington State. Sampson coached at Oklahoma and Indiana before he was an assistant in the NBA. That’s where his ties with the Milwaukee Bucks come into play.
He was an assistant coach for the Bucks from 2008-2011. Sampson has a long history and relationship with Bucks’ GM Joe Horst. The 67-year-old Houston head coach was on Scott Skiles’ coaching staff when Horst was a member of Milwaukee’s front office.
With reports surfacing that the Milwaukee Bucks interviewed Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson for their head coaching vacancy, it bears noting: Sampson, 67, told me last November that coaching the Cougars would be his last job. He did always want to be an NBA head coach and loved…
— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) May 18, 2023
The Milwaukee Bucks have interviewed Kelvin Sampson for their vacant head coaching job
This past season, the Milwaukee Bucks owned the NBA’s best regular season record at 58-24. That earned them the #1 seed in the East this season and a matchup with the #8-seeded Miami Heat. Giannis Antetokounpo missed Games 2 and 3 in the first round with a back injury he suffered in Game 1.
Milwaukee lost to the Heat in five games and that led to the firing of Mike Budenholzer. He is one of three head coaches in the last five seasons to win an NBA title and get fired. Frank Vogel and Nick Nurse were the other two. Now, the Bucks are conducting a large number of interviews for their next head coach.
That included Kelvin Sampson who is the first-known collegiate head coach to interview for the position. They also have Charles Lee, Kenny Atkinson, Scott Brooks, and others as candidates throughout the search.
