Greg Buckner has joined Doc Rivers’ coaching staff with the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Hopkinsville native spent the past four seasons in Cleveland on the staff of J.B. Bickerstaff, who wasn’t retained in May. Bickerstaff has since landed in Detroit as the head coach of the Pistons.
Buckner was the associate coach to Bickerstaff the past two seasons.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Rivers also named former Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham to his staff.
Bucker was an assistant coach under Bickerstaff in Memphis and worked in player development for the Houston Rockets.
Rivers was 17-19 after taking over as head coach around Christmas. The Bucks won the Central Division but lost in the first round of the playoffs.
Buckner helped lead University Heights Academy to the 1992 KHSAA Boys’ Sweet Sixteen State Championship. As a sophomore, Buckner chipped in nine points in the state championship game to help the Blazers defeat Lexington Catholic 59-57 at Freedom Hall.
He earned First Team All-State honors as a senior after averaging 21 points, eight rebounds, and four assists per game.
Buckner went on to star at Clemson from 1994-98, where he played in 122 consecutive games and led the Tigers in scoring all four years. The 1995 ACC Rookie of the Year, Buckner finished fourth in career points scored at Clemson.
He was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005 and the KHSAA Hall of Fame in 2021.
He was drafted in the second round of the 1998 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks and spent 10 years in the league, ending his professional career with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2008-09.
