Michael McLoone-Imagn Images
Mar 2, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) comes out of the game near the end of the second quarter and walks past Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers as they compete against the Boston Celtics at Fiserv Forum.
In 2024, Doc Rivers was named the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks in order to save what was seen as a floundering season, despite a 30-13 start under first-year coach Adrian Griffith.
Rather than saving the season, the Bucks took a turn for the worse, going 17-19 under Rivers and losing in the first year of the playoffs. The following season, Milwaukee went 48-34 under Rivers and, again, lost in the first round of the playoffs.
In Rivers’ third season in charge, he was fired after going 32-50 and missing the playoffs altogether. But as per the usual, Rivers isn’t taking the blame. Instead, he’s pointing the finger at superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Doc Rivers Subtly Ripped Giannis Antetokounmpo
Rivers recently appeared on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” and claimed that it was difficult to coach a team led by Antetokounmpo, despite the fact that Antetokounmpo is an NBA champion and two-time NBA MVP.
“I liked Giannis a lot. I liked him more as a dude,” Rivers told Simmons. “He’s interesting. He’s not easy. He’s not easy because he plays at this crazy downhill pace. He’s really a difficult guy. … He has this great passing ability, but he doesn’t necessarily have this super IQ at the same time. It’s really a strange thing, and he really has one way: downhill, force, force. Every play, he wants to force it.
“I wish he learned how to execute better. He’s one of those guys … that have never needed to execute because they can do it on their own. But that doesn’t help the team”
On top of that, Rivers said that Antetokounmpo’s desire to leave Milwaukee was what led to the 32-50 record last season.
“Giannis wanted out. But he was a Buck, and he didn’t want to be the bad guy,” Rivers said. “He wanted [GM Jon Horst and owner Wes Edens] those guys to say, ‘We’re trading you,’ instead of him asking for a trade. To me, that was the game that was being played.”
Perhaps all of that is true. But Mike Budenholzer had no issue figuring out how to coach Giannis to a championship. And Giannis didn’t want out until his third season under Rivers.
So, maybe it’s time for Rivers to stop pointing the finger and instead point the thumb for once.