The Milwaukee Bucks are set to hire Taylor Jenkins as the 19th head coach in franchise history, the Journal Sentinel learned April 23, learned from a team source.
Jenkins, 41, was an assistant coach for the Bucks under Mike Budenholzer for the 2018-19 season before taking over as head coach in Memphis. At the time, he was the second-youngest coach in the league.
“It would be hard to put into words what Taylor has meant to me, to the coaching staff that he’s been a part of – with me specifically for six years and the years in San Antonio,” Budenholzer told the Journal Sentinel in 2019. “He’s just an incredible, incredible human. He brings an incredible work ethic, the attention to detail, the feel for the game, the understanding of what’s important in building relationships. Just making a train keep moving, he’s been incredible for me and I’m forever, ever grateful to him.”
As for what Jenkins was bringing to the lead chair as a head coach, Budenholzer added, “A very clear vision of what he wants and he’ll be able to communicate and articulate and teach the players very clearly what he wants defensively, what he wants offensively and still allow players to make plays and have freedom within his vision, within what he wants for them.”
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Jenkins went 250-214 (.539 winning percentage) in nearly six full seasons with the Grizzlies before being fired with a 44-29 record at the end of the 2024-25 season.
Memphis went 9-14 in three playoff trips under Jenkins and advanced to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs in 2021-22 after winning 56 games.
A Texas native, Jenkins began his NBA career as an intern with San Antonio and did a spin in the front office before getting into coaching with the Spurs’ G League affiliate in 2008. He helped the Austin Toros win the 2012 G League championship and developed a relationship with Budenholzer, then a Spurs assistant.
Budenholzer brought Jenkins to Atlanta for his first formal assistant role in the NBA in 2013-14. The Hawks made the playoffs four times and reached the 2015 Eastern Conference finals.
After Jenkins moved to Milwaukee, the 2018-19 Bucks were the league’s best team at 60-22 and advanced to the conference finals.
In Memphis, the Grizzlies oversaw a rebuild centered around 2020 first-round draft pick and eventual rookie of the year Ja Morant. The Grizzlies had two losing records in Jenkins’ tenure, going 34-39 in his first year and 27-55 in his fifth year in 2023-24 when Morant and several other key players were injured most of the season.
Bucks coach Larry Costello sits with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on June 20, 1969. The Bucks selected Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcidor, with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1969 NBA draft.Milwaukee Bucks coach Larry Costello is seen at a meeting in 1974. He led the Bucks to the NBA Finals that season before the team fell to the Boston Celtics.Don Nelson accepted his 'Nellie Day' proclamation. He was a two-time coach of the year for the Bucks in 1983 and 1985.Don Nelson's .611 winning percentage (540-344) during his 10 years as the Bucks head coach is second-best among coaches in franchise history with at least one full season.
Bucks head coach Del Harris is seen here watching a workout with Larry Krystkowiak in 1991. Krystkowiak would also later become the Bucks head coach 16 years later. Harris was 191-154 across his tenure as the Bucks head coach before stepping down early in the 1991-92 season.
Frank Hamblen was fired as coach of the Milwaukee Bucks after the 1991-92 season. The Bucks were 23-42 under his leadership in 65 games after he took over following Harris' resignation.
Mike Dunleavy, who finished his NBA playing career with the Milwaukee Bucks, became the team's fifth coach in franchise history in 1992. He's introduced by owner Herb Kohl.
Mike Dunleavy finished with a 107-221 record as the Bucks head coach. The Bucks didn't have a winning record in any season under Dunleavy and had three of 10 worst seasons by winning percentage in team history under Dunleavy.
Chris Ford coached the Bucks from 1996-98 and finished with a 69-95 record.
Terry Porter's hire as Bucks head coach in 2003 was a homecoming. The Milwaukee native Porter attended South Division High School and played college basketball at UW-Stevens Point.
Terry Porter gives directions to Michael Redd and Mo Williams during a game in 2004. Porter coached the Bucks for three seasons (2003-05) and finished with a 71-93 record and one playoff series loss.
An assistant coach for the Bucks during the George Karl years from 1998-2002, Terry Stotts returned to be the head coach in 2005. In 146 games and just short of two full seasons, Stotts went 63-83.