Mike Budenholzer, Bucks Agree to New 3-Year Contract After NBA Title Run

Mike Budenholzer will remain with the Milwaukee Bucks after helping lead the team to a championship, the team announced.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the head coach agreed to a three-year contract extension that will keep him with the team though the 2024-25 campaign.

The Bucks finished 46-26 in the regular season and then dazzled on the way to their first championship since the 1970-71 season.

It helped erase question marks about Budenholzer's future with the team after failing to reach the NBA Finals in either of the previous two years despite posting the best record in the NBA. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported in early May the coach would be fired unless he made a deep playoff run.

Budenholzer joined Milwaukee in 2018 after five seasons as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks and a lengthy spell as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs.

His time with Atlanta featured many bright moments, including four playoff appearances and the No. 1 seeding in the East in 2014-15. Postseason success still eluded him as the squad went 17-22 in playoff games with the Hawks, including a sweep in his lone trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. 

In Milwaukee, Budenholzer found instant success while guiding Giannis Antetokounmpo to back-to-back MVP awards for a team that went 116-39 in the first two years. The losses in the conference finals and semifinals still left the Bucks wanting more.

A remade roster in the offseason, including the addition of Jrue Holiday, gave the team a new opportunity to contend for the title, and it capitalized.

The 52-year-old will try to repeat with a roster loaded with proven players such as Antetokounmpo, Holiday, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, who are all signed through at least 2022-23.