In case you haven’t noticed, things aren’t exactly going very well in Milwaukee, and the Bucks seem to be on the verge of major changes this offseason. Most of the dysfunction and disappointment is credited to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has undoubtedly become a serious distraction this season with his on-again, off-again trade flirtation.
But don’t sleep on the contributions of one Doc Rivers, who has completely run the team into the ground since taking over. The Bucks were perennial title contenders under Mike Budenholzer, and Adrian Griffin had the team off to a 30-13 start before being fired and replaced by Doc.
Since Rivers took the helm, the Bucks have fallen off a cliff, going 95-100, and they’re about to miss the playoffs after back-to-back first-round exits. Yet somehow, up until this point, there hasn’t been much talk about Rivers’ job security, but that seems to have finally changed, at least based on a long report from Shams Charania that came out on Tuesday.
The article and reporting were largely focused on Giannis, and for good reason; he is the superstar player who has been holding the team hostage, but don’t let that overshadow some hilarious anecdotes about Doc.
Rivers takes way too much credit for ancient Celtics success
In an almost unbelievable story, Shams explained that ahead of a crucial game with Boston in early March, Rivers called a team meeting, which he started by “imploring players to look up his resume”. I used quotes because I want to make it clear how ridiculous this report is. And it may seem far-fetched, but Charania states it was sourced by SIX different people in the room.
As if that alone wasn’t crazy enough, Rivers was quoted in that meeting as saying:
"I took teams to the playoffs and to the championship that weren't supposed to. I thought this was one of them. Either you're with us or against us. If you're not playing hard, we're not playing you anymore.”
What on earth was Doc talking about here? He’s been to the Finals exactly twice in his 27 seasons as a head coach, winning the title with the Celtics in 2008 and losing to the Lakers in 2010. Surely, he’s not suggesting that either of those teams with numerous Hall of Famers wasn’t “supposed” to make the championship.
He has been a frontrunner since his Celtics tenure, leaving for greener pastures with the Clippers, then the 76ers, and finally the Bucks. All of those teams had championship expectations from the second he walked in the door, and none of them came all that close. Is he claiming those teams weren’t “supposed” to make the playoffs?
Doc’s coaching career is ridiculously overrated
I have no issues with Doc and will remember him fondly from the 2008 title, but the delusion from him and his fans is absurd. I get that he has racked up wins and is going into the Hall of Fame, but he has a .587 career regular-season winning percentage, and he has missed the playoffs or lost in the first round in 15 of his 27 seasons.
He has just the one title, the one other Finals appearance, and only one other Conference Finals appearance, which was also in Boston. Since leaving, his career has been one massive disappointment after another, and every team he has left will only remember him as an underachiever.
Clearly, he thinks the world of himself and believes he is some sort of genius coach who has overcome odds and deserves all the respect in the world, but I’m sorry, that’s clearly not the case. Frankly, the HOF induction is kind of a joke, and I’m not even sure we have real evidence that Doc was ever more than an average NBA head coach.