The fans in Milwaukee couldn't wait to see Doc Rivers depart from their city any faster, and frankly, it's fair for them to feel that way given how things ended during his tenure with the Bucks. Through 200 games over three seasons, Rivers' Bucks teams posted a sub-.500 winning percentage and won a combined three Playoff games in two postseason appearances, effectively squandering Milwaukee's last chance of winning a title with Giannis Antetokounmpo.
It was far and away the worst coaching job of his career. By the end, his teams were offensively stagnant, defensively scattered, and clearly had lost faith in their ability to salvage the season. The culture had deteriorated, and at times, Rivers had a hard time taking accountability, whether it was due to the health of the team, buy-in of the players, or construction of the roster. And as hard as it might be for some Bucks fans to admit, he had a point.
Not everything that went south during his time with the Bucks was within Doc Rivers' control. He couldn't do anything more than what he already did to deter the media frenzy surrounding Giannis' eventual departure. The roster was not optimized to win as the front office scrapped together what they could to keep their star player happy, knowing well the path to a championship was slim. And most of the time, Doc Rivers was the only person publicly facing the fire of everyone questioning what went wrong.
So as he finds himself getting inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, many Bucks fans find themselves scoffing at the idea. But don't get it twisted — regardless of what happened in Milwaukee, Doc Rivers is a no-brainer Hall of Fame inductee and important part of NBA HIstory.
Doc Rivers' Bucks tenure wasn't a fair reflection of his Hall of Fame-worthy life in basketball.
Ranked No. 6 in all-time regular-season coaching wins and fourth in the playoffs, Doc Rivers has been part of iconic moments in NBA history from the moment he first picked up a clipboard, and that's not even including his legacy as one of the defining floor general point guards of his time.
Rivers was the first coach to crack the formula on how to make a Superteam gel with the Boston Celtics, managing the minutes, workloads, and personalities of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and an up-and-coming Rajon Rondo en route to a title in 2008. He was the driving force behind the Lob City era in Los Angeles, helped empower Joel Embiid to the only MVP award of his career, and coached Giannis to some career-high numbers in Milwaukee as well.
By the end of his time with the Bucks, it was a bit of a miserable situation for everyone involved, and Rivers was the easiest person to blame. No one wanted to point fingers at Giannis himself, and the front office and ownership were M.I.A. for almost all of the 2025-26 season. He became the scapegoat for everything that went wrong when, in reality, it was a group effort that put the Bucks in a position to miss the postseason for the first time in a decade.
So as he enters the Hall of Fame and his NBA coaching career seemingly comes to a close, he should be remembered in Milwaukee not just for the woes of his final season, but for all he gave back to the community as a member of the Bucks, Marquette family, and all the contributions he made to this great game along the way.
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