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As the Milwaukee Bucks fired Adrian Griffin on Tuesday, the team promoted assistant Joe Prunty to interim head coach. Griffin was fired after 43 games despite having the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.
Fans shouldn't worry much about the Bucks as Prunty has had more than 25 years of coaching experience as an assistant. But first, let's take a closer look at who he is outside of the basketball court.
Prunty was born on Feb. 12, 1969, in Sunnyvale, California. He graduated from Fremont (California) High School and played basketball at De Anza College before earning his bachelor's degree in speech communications at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Starting in 1992, Prunty became a coach in San Diego, California. He coached two teams, the University of San Diego High School and St. Augustine High School. Luke Walton, who ended up being a coach himself, was one of the players he coached in high school.
According to reports, Prunty was a beer salesman for Anheuser-Busch products.
Aside from being in the NBA as a coach, Prunty was also the head coach of the Great Britain men's national basketball team. His stint with the national team started in 2013 and ended in 2017. He wasn't able to achieve anything significant with the British team but is highly regarded as an icon in the sports world for his dedication to the team.
You might also be interested in reading this: Who is Joe Prunty's wife, Laura Prunty? Looking at the relationship history of new interim head coach of Atlanta Hawks and his better half
Looking at Joe Prunty's coaching experience in the NBA
Joe Prunty has been around the NBA for some time. He started as an assistant video coordinator with the San Antonio Spurs in 1996 and was promoted to assistant coach in 2000. Prunty was part of the Spurs team that won championships in 1999, 2003 and 2005.
He became part of Avery Johnson's staff with the Dallas Mavericks in 2006. The 54-year-old was part of the Mavs squad that made it to the NBA Finals but lost to the Miami Heat. He transitioned and joined the Portland Trail Blazers in 2008, where the team had back-to-back 50-win seasons.
Prunty joined the Cleveland Cavaliers as an assistant coach for three seasons. He had a quick stopover with the Brooklyn Nets during the 2013-14 season as part of Jason Kidd's staff. He then moved on to the Milwaukee Bucks from 2014-18.
He was hired by the Phoenix Suns for one season and joined Nate McMillan's staff from 2021-23 before returning to the Bucks over the summer.
Prunty has been named an interim head coach three times in his career. He took over the Bucks when Jason Kidd underwent hip surgery. He also took over for McMillan while he was on health and safety protocols during his stint with the Hawks.
Now, as the Bucks move on from Griffin, Joe Prunty will take over the head coaching reins momentarily.
