Michael Vincent Budenholzer (born August 6, 1969) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach who most recently served as the head coach of the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). Budenholzer previously head coached the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

for five seasons, from 2018 to 2023, winning an NBA title in the 2020–21 NBA season. He also spent five seasons as head coach of the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

and 19 seasons with the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, serving as an alternate video coordinator for the first two seasons and then as an

assistant coach An athletic coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction, and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''Coach'' is that of a Coach (carriage), horse-drawn carriage, deriving ul ...

behind head coach

Gregg Popovich Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball executive and former coach who is the president for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the List of current NBA head co ...

. Budenholzer is commonly referred to by other coaches, players, and media as "Bud" or "Coach Bud".

Playing career

A native of

Holbrook, Arizona Holbrook () is a city in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city was 5,053. The city is the county seat of Navajo County. Holbrook was founded in 1881 or 1882, when the railroad was bu ...

, Budenholzer attended

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

, where he was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

and was named the Outstanding Senior Athlete in 1993. He graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

philosophy, politics, and economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in PPE was the Unive ...

. On September 19, 2015, Budenholzer was inducted into the Pomona–Pitzer Hall of Fame. In 1991, Budenholzer played for the Pentland in the Scottish National Basketball League for four months while attending

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He later spent the 1993–94 season in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, playing professionally for Vejle Basketball Klub, where he averaged a team-high 27.5 points per game while also serving as head coach for two teams of the club's

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

Coaching career

San Antonio Spurs

At the start of the 1994–95 season, Budenholzer was hired by the

of the

(NBA) as a video coordinator. He held that position for two years before being named an assistant coach under head coach

at the beginning of the 1996–97 season. Budenholzer was part of a staff that won four NBA championships while with the Spurs.

Atlanta Hawks

Budenholzer left San Antonio at the end of the

2013 NBA playoffs The 2013 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2012–13 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat defeating the Western Conference champion San Antonio Spu ...

to begin his new career as the head coach of the

. In his first season as head coach, the Hawks qualified for the Eastern Conference playoffs as the 8th seed in the 2014 NBA Playoffs, then lost to the first-seeded

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

in the first round. Budenholzer was named the December 2014 Eastern Conference Coach of the Month after leading the Hawks to a 14–2 record in the month. He was named the head coach of the Eastern Conference team at the 2015 NBA All-Star Game by virtue of Atlanta being in first place in the conference by the break. Budenholzer was named the January 2015 Eastern Conference Coach of the Month award after leading the Hawks to the first 17–0 record in a month in NBA history. He went on to lead the Hawks to a franchise record 60 wins, as well as their deepest playoff run in 48 years. On April 21, he was named the recipient of the

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. As a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he led the Boston Celtics to an unprecedented champio ...

Trophy as the 2014–15

NBA Coach of the Year The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who l ...

. On June 30, 2015, Budenholzer was promoted to president of basketball operations in addition to his duties as head coach. While Wes Wilcox was promoted to general manager, Budenholzer had the final say in all basketball matters. On August 1, 2015, Budenholzer served as Team Africa's assistant coach at the 2015 NBA Africa exhibition game. On April 25, 2018, Budenholzer and the Hawks agreed to part ways, having been removed as president of basketball operations for the Hawks on May 5, 2017.

Milwaukee Bucks

On May 17, 2018, the

announced Budenholzer as their head coach. The Bucks found success in his first season, posting a 60–22 record. In January, Budenholzer was selected as the coach of the East team in the 2019 NBA All-Star Game. At the end of the season, he won the

for the second time in his career and also won the National Basketball Coaches Association's Coach of the Year Award. On July 20, 2021, Budenholzer led the Milwaukee Bucks to an NBA championship, defeating the Phoenix Suns in six games, as the Bucks became the fifth team in NBA history to win the title after losing the first two games. On August 24, 2021, the Bucks signed Budenholzer to a multi-year contract extension. In the 2021–22 season, Budenholzer led the team to the third seed in the Eastern Conference for the second straight year. The Bucks defeated the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

in the first round of the playoffs, but fell to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

in seven games in the conference semifinals. In the 2022–23 season, the Bucks finished the regular season with the best record in the league. However, Budenholzer was fired by the Bucks on May 4, 2023, after the team lost in five games in the first round of the playoffs to the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

, who would eventually become the first eight-seed to reach the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

since the 1998–99 New York Knicks. As a result of the series loss being partially attributed to

Giannis Antetokounmpo Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo ( Adetokunbo; born December 6, 1994) is a Nigerian-Greek professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His size, speed, and strength have earned him the nick ...

's injury, and Budenholzer losing his brother in a car crash during the series, the move was controversial among fans. Some felt it was the right time to do so due to the series loss and other playoff under-performances, while others questioned the validity of doing so due to the injury to Antetokounmpo and personal struggles Budenholzer faced during the series.

Phoenix Suns

On May 11, 2024, Budenholzer was hired as the head coach for the

. He signed a five-year deal worth roughly $50 million. With the highest payroll in the league, the Suns opened the 2024–25 season with postseason expectations, as the team started off with an 8–1 record. However, they ended up finishing below .500 for the first time since the 2019–20 season and missed the playoffs entirely, ending the campaign with a 36–46 record and the 11th seed in the Western Conference. On April 14, 2025, a day after the regular season ended, Budenholzer was fired.

Head coaching record

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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first round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

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Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

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NBA championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

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Personal life

Budenholzer is the youngest of seven children born to Vince and Libby Budenholzer. He is of German descent. His father was also a basketball coach and spent 25 years coaching high school and college teams in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

before retiring in 1997. Budenholzer has four children: William Vincent, Savoia Elizabeth, Hanna Louise, and John Bent. Prior to Game 4 versus the

during the First Round of the 2023 NBA playoffs on April 24, 2023, one of Budenholzer's brothers died in a car accident.

References

External links

Mike Budenholzer info page
at

NBA.com The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Budenholzer, Mike 1969 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Denmark American expatriate sportspeople in Scotland American men's basketball players American people of German descent Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Atlanta Hawks head coaches Basketball coaches from Arizona Basketball players from Arizona Milwaukee Bucks head coaches NBA championship–winning head coaches People from Holbrook, Arizona Phoenix Suns head coaches Pomona College alumni Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens men's basketball players San Antonio Spurs assistant coaches 20th-century American sportsmen