About
Twenty-five years learning what winning doesn't teach you.
Adrian Griffin has spent his career on both sides of leadership — as a player who had to buy in, and a coach who had to earn it.
Adrian Griffin has spent his career on both sides of leadership — as a player who had to buy in, and a coach who had to earn it.
Undrafted out of Seton Hall in 1996, Adrian built a nine-year NBA playing career anyway. He went on to spend fifteen years as an assistant coach across five franchises — the Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Toronto Raptors, where he was part of the Raptors' 2019 NBA championship coaching staff.
In 2023, after fourteen head coaching interviews, Adrian was named head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks — his first head coaching opportunity after more than two decades in the league. His team started the season 30–13, one of the best records in the NBA, before he was let go midseason.
That experience — and the years of studying leadership and human motivation that followed it — became the foundation for the ACE framework: Accountability, Connection, Empowerment.
Adrian holds a PhD in organizational leadership and has studied formally and informally under some of the coaching profession's most respected leaders throughout his career. He now works with leaders across sports, business, and education, helping them build the conditions for real commitment and ownership rather than mere compliance.
If ACE is a fit for your team, organization, or event, Adrian works with leaders directly — from a single keynote to an ongoing advisory relationship.