Bucks HC Mike Budenholzer's Brother Died Before Game 4 vs. Heat

Head coach Mike Budenholzer led the Milwaukee Bucks through their first-round series against the Miami Heat while dealing with bereavement.

One of Budenholzer's three brothers died before Game 4 of the first-round series on Monday because of injuries suffered in a car crash, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

Budenholzer, who is from Arizona, is the youngest of seven siblings, per The Athletic.

Milwaukee's first-round series ended with the Bucks' 128-126 overtime loss to the Heat on Wednesday.

Budenholzer entered the NBA coaching world on Gregg Popovich's coaching staff with the San Antonio Spurs, and they won four titles between 1999 and 2007.

His first head coaching job was with the Atlanta Hawks, where he spent five seasons before joining the Bucks in 2018. In 2021, he led Milwaukee to the team's first NBA championship since 1971.

When asked about the Bucks losing in the first round for the first time in Budenholzer's tenure, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham told reporters Friday about the Milwaukee coach's loss and shared his admiration of Budenholzer's strength.

"Coach Bud is going through a lot on a personal level. He just lost a brother," Ham said. "... He and I have been texting. I love those guys. They're a part of my basketball family."

Budenholzer did not reveal the loss during the Bucks' first-round series, but he confirmed Ham's statement through a team spokesman to The Athletic.

Raised by their mother, Libby, and father, Vince, in Holbrook, Arizona, Budenholzer's family joined him to celebrate his career in July 2019, when five of his six siblings gathered in their hometown for a ceremony celebrating Budenholzer's second NBA Coach of the Year award.

It was not immediately clear which of Budenholzer's siblings died.