TORONTO — Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer and his staff are heading to the All-Star Game.
The Bucks’ 105-92 win over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night clinched the spot for Budenholzer, who will coach in the All-Star Game for the second time in five years. He also coached in 2015, when he was with the Atlanta Hawks.
Milwaukee improved to an NBA-best 37-13 with the win. Toronto fell to 37-16, and the loss means the Raptors’ first-year coach Nick Nurse now cannot overtake Budenholzer in time for the All-Star job. The All-Star jobs go to the coaches of the teams with the best record in the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference through Sunday’s games.
Budenholzer will coach Team Giannis — the one captained by Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton is also heading to the Feb. 17 game in Charlotte as a reserve. Middleton will find out which team he’ll play for on Feb. 7, when Antetokounmpo and LeBron James, the other captain, select their teams.
Budenholzer is only the second Bucks coach to earn the All-Star nod — Larry Costello coached in the 1971 and 1974 All-Star matchups.
Team LeBron’s coach will be either Golden State’s Steve Kerr or Denver’s Michael Malone.
Kerr would be the All-Star coach for the third time in the last five seasons, and he faced off against Budenholzer in the 2015 game. Malone has never been the All-Star coach, and would be the first Denver coach to have that job since George Karl in 2010.
Source : ESPN
