Terry Stotts resigned from his position as an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Stotts joined the staff this offseason, with his experience on the sidelines providing a nice balance for first-year head coach Adrian Griffin. It's unclear why he's walking away a week out from Milwaukee's opener on Oct. 26 against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Damian Lillard provided his thoughts on the surprising departure, via Shams Charania of The Athletic:

"It kind of came out of nowhere. I've been in this league long enough to know that these types of things happen. Everything continues, so you've got to kind of process things like this and other things that may come up and continue to move forward. For me, knowing Terry as long as I've known him – playing for him for nine years and him also making this transition for me easier just having a familiar face be such a huge part of it – was a good thing. I think now that I'm settled in, to see him go is unfortunate. It's sad to see him go, but like I said, everything is still moving forward."

Stotts coached Lillard for nine seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers. When Portland moved on from the 65-year-old after the 2020-21 season, it didn't sound as though there was any discord between him and the Blazers' best player.

Lillard also told Sportskeeda's Mark Medina the presence of Stotts in Milwaukee was easing his transition to a new team.

"It'll be smooth because I've been in the league a long time," the seven-time All-Star said. "I've played with Terry for nine years. A lot of stuff that we put in is stuff that I've done for a long time. So, it's simple for me. I understand it. I know where to find myself within that."

More broadly, Griffin was enthusiastic about Stotts coming aboard in June:

Eric Nehm @eric_nehm

In a scrum with print media after his introductory press conference today, Adrian Griffin confirmed that Terry Stotts will be a part of his coaching staff. <br><br>"To get a guy like Terry is a home run." - Griffin<br><br>Here were his full comments on Stotts: <a href="">

This was Stotts' first job since leaving Portland. He has been an NBA head coach for 13 seasons, including a two-year run in Milwaukee from 2005-07.