Report: Joe Pantry and Patrick Mutombo join the Milwaukee Bucks coaching staff

Two more prominent coaches join the Milwaukee Bucks.

Matthew Dugandzic | Jun 9, 2023

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Milwaukee Bucks

It seems like the Milwaukee Bucks’ coaching brain trust will be composed mainly by personnel who had previous stints with the squad.

The Bucks coaching staff is starting to shape up after Joe Puntry and Patrick Mutombo were hired as assistant coaches, per a report by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Puntry is the latest former Milwaukee coach to join the team after Adrian Griffin was hired as head coach and Terry Stotts as an assistant coach.

Stotts is a former head coach of the Bucks, while Griffin started his coaching career in Milwaukee as an assistant to Scott Skiles

Veteran bench tactician

Puntry has been in the NBA since 1996, starting as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs.

From San Antonio, Puntry moved to Dallas, Portland, Cleveland, and Brooklyn before joining Milwaukee in 2014.

In December 2015, Puntry served as interim head coach of Milwaukee for 17 games after then-Bucks head coach Jason Kidd underwent hip surgery.

From Milwaukee, Puntry transferred to the Phoenix Suns before moving to Atlanta in 2021.

Prunty also acted as interim head coach in Atlanta last season when Nate McMillan was fired. He reverted back to an assistant role when Atlanta hired Quin Snyder as the new head coach.

Griffin-Motumbo reunion

Mutombo, on the other hand, is a former NCAA Division 2 standout.

He spent seven years playing professional basketball in Europe. He played in the NBA G-League in 2011 and suited up for Metro State under current Milwaukee assistant coach Mike Dunlap.

Motumbo’s first coaching stint in the NBA was in Denver when he was hired as one of the assistant coaches in 2012.

At Milwaukee, it will be a reunion of sorts for Griffin and Mutombo, as they were both assistant coaches in Toronto when the Raptors won the NBA championship in 2021.

Published Jun 9, 2023

MATTHEW DUGANDZIC

Matthew finished his bachelor's degree in Economics (Management) at the University of Split and got his master's degree in the same field at the University of Zadar. Whether it is playing the game as an undersized 6'3'' power forward or simply watching it, Matthew can't get enough of it. After all, he has been an avid NBA fan since the 2000s. But don't get him wrong, as Matthew still loves the old-school NBA and is a true student of the game. From on-court moments to off-court stuff, whether it's about the stars of modern-day basketball or legends of the game, Matthew covers every category of the NBA world and basketball in general, as long as it makes for an engaging and exciting story.