The Milwaukee Bucks have had a roller-coaster season and are sitting at 26-35. The biggest story for the Bucks has been what is going on with Giannis Antetokounmpo. He was almost traded by the NBA Trade Deadline, but ended up staying with Milwaukee for at least the rest of the season. Now, the biggest story is that Doc Rivers decided to bench Kyle Kuzma as a coaching decision.
The Bucks were playing the Celtics, and Kuzma did not play due to a coaching decision. Doc Rivers said that the goal with the overall lineup has been to try different things to find a rhythm, but he did not address benching Kyle Kuzma directly.
Kuzma addressed The Athletic's Eric Nehm and said he did not know it was happening beforehand, but he took it in stride and trusts the coaching staff, especially Rivers, given his past success.
“You just take it in swing,” Kuzma said. “At the end of the day, we trust our coaching staff to make the right decisions on this team or whatever they think can win us games, especially for a guy like Doc. You know, he's top 5 all-time in wins, so he knows basketball.”
Kuzma's benching did not affect the outcome of the game, as the Celtics blew out the Bucks, 108-81, despite Giannis Antetokounmpo returning from injury.
The former Laker was traded from the Washington Wizards to the Bucks during the middle of the 2024-25 season. In his first full year with the Bucks, the 2020 NBA Champion is averaging 12.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per contest while shooting 48.3% from the field and 34.2% from three-point range in 56 games.
The Bucks are currently the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference and face an uphill battle to make the postseason, even the play-in game. They have also lost four straight games and counting, and do not look like a playoff-caliber team.
It has been a bumpy ride for Kuzma, and if he is still a part of the Bucks' plans moving forward, he still has one more season left on his current contract beyond 2025-26. The $20.3 million owed to Kuzma in 2026-27 is nearly all guaranteed, too.
