Milwaukee Bucks fans have seen some great players perform on the court. Those players were backed up by coaches with varying styles. The following is a brief history of those men who coached for the Bucks.
The Milwaukee Buck's first coach was a former NBA player. Larry Costello was with the Philadelphia Warriors and the Syracuse Nationals, who later became the Philadelphia 76ers. As a player, he was selected for 6 All-Star games from 1954-1968. While coaching the Bucks, he led the team to the 1971 NBA Championships.
Next up for the Bucks was Don Nelson. As a player, Nelson played with the Chicago Zephyrs, LA Lakers and the Boston Celtics. In addition to the Bucks, he was also coach of the NY Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks. In February 2009, he surpassed 1,300 coaching wins for his career.
Del Harris coached the Milwaukee Bucks from 1987 to1991. He left Milwaukee with a coaching record of 191-154.
In his coaching career, he was also with the Houston Rockets and the LA Lakers. Frank Hamblen spent a short time as the Bucks head coach. His dismal record proved to be his downfall. Hamblen has also served as an Interim coach for the LA Lakers.
Mike Dunleavy coached the Bucks for four seasons, and finished his career with a 107-221 record.
While a professional player, he was with Houston, San Antonio, and Philadelphia. As a coach, he spent time with the Bucks, the Lakers and the Portland Trailblazers.
George Karl was a high profile coach who left Milwaukee with a winning record. He coached the Bucks from 1998 to2003. Karl played with the San Antonio Spurs, and then went on to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers, did some coaching in other leagues and then returned to the NBA to coach the Seattle SuperSonics.
Terry Porter, a Milwaukee native was coach of the Bucks for a short period. Porter was a star at South Division High School. In his professional career, he played with the Portland Trailblazers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns and the Spurs.
Terry Stotts coached the team for two seasons. He left the Milwaukee Bucks after amassing an overall record that was 20 games below .500. Terry Stotts formerly played for George Karl on the Montana Golden Nuggets in the early 1980s.
Larry Krystkowiak replaced Stotts, and performed poorly. Milwaukee had one of the worst records in the NBA during his time as head coach. Following a solid playing career with the Bulls, Bucks, Lakers, Jazz, Magic and Spurs, Krystkowiak stepped in to coach the Bucks. He was replaced by Scott Skiles, former coach of the Chicago Bulls.
