CHICAGO (AFP) — Terry Stotts, who was the head coach at Portland for the first nine years of Damian Lillard’s career, resigned as an assistant coach of Lillard’s new National Basketball Association team, the Milwaukee Bucks.
The 65-year-old American had come out of retirement two years after being fired in Portland to join the staff of new Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin.
When the Bucks traded for Lillard last month, the superstar guard said he was helped in his transition to Milwaukee in part because Stotts was there.
“Everybody was kind of surprised by it,” Lillard told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“It kind of came out of nowhere.”
Lillard said Stotts called him to tell him of the decision personally.
Griffin said that Stotts told the team on Wednesday of his decision.
“It caught all of us off guard, of course, but again, you just support him,” Griffin told the newspaper. “He was a terrific guy. I learned a lot from him in a very short time. He was really good at what he does.”
“He made a decision — a personal decision — and we just have to respect that.”
Griffin did not say why Stotts departed, saying only, “You’re going to have to ask Terry. He’s a great coach. I really enjoyed getting to know him. Terrific person. It was his decision. I just wish him the best.”
Lillard said he accepted Stotts’ departure as part of the business of basketball.
“I’ve been in this league long enough to know that these types of things happen,” Lillard said. “Everything continues, so you’ve got to kind of process things like this and other things that may come up and continue to move forward.”
“Knowing Terry as long as I’ve known him
— playing for him for nine years and him also making this transition for me easier just having a familiar face be such a huge part of it — was a good thing.”
“Now that I’m settled in, to see him go is unfortunate. It’s sad to see him go, but like I said, everything is still moving forward.”
The Bucks open the 2023-24 season next Thursday at home against reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Meanwhile, Kevin Durant scored 21 points and the Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 123-100, in a game that put Durant and LeBron James on the court for the first time in almost five years.
James scored 19 points and Anthony Davis had 15 for Los Angeles in the preseason finale for both teams.
The last time James and Durant were on the court was Christmas 2018, when the Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors, 127-101.
The game also featured a matchup between Japanese national team members Rui Hachimura for the Lakers and Yuta Watanabe for Phoenix.
