The Milwaukee Bucks interviewed their former assistant and current Houston Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson for their coaching vacancy Wednesday, ESPN reported.
Sampson, 67, has coached 958 career games with four teams at the collegiate level, but he also spent six seasons as assistant coach in the NBA, three of those with the Bucks (2008-11).
The Bucks have also interviewed Washington Wizards assistant Joseph Blair for the opening, created when the organization fired Mike Budenholzer earlier this month after five seasons and an NBA championship.
Sampson has ties to Bucks general manager Jon Horst, who was a member of the front office when Sampson was an assistant to then-head coach Scott Skiles.
Sampson is 657-301 over 30 seasons as head coach of Washington State (1987-94), Oklahoma (1994-2006), Indiana (2006-08) and Houston (2014-current).
Blair won a 2019 G League title as head coach of Rio Grande Valley.
Other candidates for the post are Bucks assistant Charles Lee, Golden State’s Kenny Atkinson, Portland’s Scott Brooks, Toronto’s Adrian Griffin, Miami’s Chris Quinn, Phoenix’s Kevin Young and former Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego. Newly unemployed Monty Williams, fired by Phoenix over the weekend, will also reportedly draw interest from Milwaukee.
Budenholzer, 53, went 271-120 in five seasons in Milwaukee, making the playoffs every year and winning the title in 2021.
–Field Level Media
