The Milwaukee Bucks have fired head coach Jason Kidd, the team announced in a statement Monday afternoon.
"We appreciate everything that Jason has done for the Bucks organization, but we have decided to make a coaching change," GM Jon Horst said in the statement. "We believe that a fresh approach and a change in leadership are needed to continue elevating our talented team towards the next level, bringing us closer to our goal of competing for championships."
Horst has scheduled a 5 p.m. news conference to discuss Kidd's firing.
Assistant Joe Prunty will coach the team Monday night against the Phoenix Suns and will be named interim coach.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com first reported the firing.
The Bucks, who entered the season with high expectations, have lost four of their last five games and seven of their last 11 and are now in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with a 23-22 record.
Kidd, 44, had a 139-152 record during his 3 ½ seasons on the Bucks' sidelines. The Bucks went to the playoffs twice under Kidd, but were ousted in the first round both times.
The Bucks hired Kidd to replace Larry Drew as coach in June of 2014, signing him to a three-year, $15 million deal. That contract was extended through the 2019-'20 season last summer.
Bucks owners Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens were instrumental in bringing Kidd to the Bucks from the Brooklyn Nets, where he was coach for one season.
Kidd, who had a 19-year NBA career and starred for the Nets, got to know Lasry during the player's time in New Jersey. Lasry was an investor in the Nets before joining with Edens to purchase the Bucks from former owner Herb Kohl in the spring of 2014.
Kidd helped engineer a 26-win turnaround in his first season, taking over a team that went 15-67 and guiding them to a 41-41 record.
The next season the Bucks regressed with a 33-49 record and missed the playoffs.
Last season, the Bucks finished 42-40 but lost to the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs.
Monday's firing comes during a season in which the Bucks hoped to build momentum entering the 2019 season when they will open their new arena.
Check back for more through the evening for more on this developing story.
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