After practice on Thursday, Adrian Griffin, the coach of the Bucks, confirmed Stotts’ departure from the Milwaukee team in remarks to the media. Griffin stated that Stotts made the choice to make the transfer but declined to comment on the specifics.

Naturally, it caught us all off guard, but once more, you just have to stand by him,” Griffin remarked. “He was a great man. He taught me a lot of things in a short amount of time. He was exceptionally skilled in his field. We simply need to accept the decision he made, which was a personal one.”

As the former Toronto Raptors assistant coach takes over a squad with championship aspirations for his first head coaching gig, Stotts’ expertise is predicted to help Griffin. The Philadelphia 76ers are the team the Bucks host on October 26 to begin the season.

In addition, Stotts would have given freshly acquired seven-time all-NBA guard Damian Lillard, who played for Stotts with the Portland Trail Blazers for his first nine NBA seasons, some familiarity. Lillard claimed that on Wednesday, Stotts personally called him to inform him of the relocation.

According to Lillard, “that kind of startled everybody.” It appeared out of nowhere. I’ve played in this league long enough to be aware of these kinds of incidents. Everything keeps on going, so you have to sort of move forward and digest things like this and other things that might come up.

“Playing for Terry for nine years and his familiar face being such a big part of this transition for me was a nice thing for me, knowing him for as long as I’ve known him. Now that I’m situated, I believe it is bad for him to leave. I regret seeing him go. However, as I mentioned earlier, things are still moving forward.