For two and a half seasons as the head coach in Milwaukee, Doc Rivers defended Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo at every turn. All the while, Rivers took the heat for what many considered his worst coaching job in an otherwise historic career. Now, in a recent interview on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Rivers is finally peeling back the curtain on how he really felt about coaching Giannis.
Rivers explained how Giannis' dynamic athletic ability and downhill attacking mindset can also be the downfall of his team, and why he believes the Greek Freak still has a long way to go in expanding his basketball IQ:
"He's really a difficult guy. I was telling someone this: He has this great passing ability, but he doesn't necessarily have super IQ at the same time. It's really a strange thing. He really has one way: downhill, force, force, force. Like, every play, he wants to force it. And there are times when I wish he did one thing. I wish he learned how to execute better," Rivers explained. "I told Giannis this. The thing he still needs to learn is the value of execution. How important it is, when you're in practice and shootarounds, to lock in on execution...
"For the team to work, you gotta learn how to execute."
This was no backhanded compliment, but a genuine critique of a player he spent many hours working with over the course of three seasons in Milwaukee. It's a fair criticism, considering the Point Giannis experiment backfired on the Bucks in the 2025-26 campaign, in which they won 32 games, and Giannis appeared in 36. However, it feels like a strange switch-up from the same man who defended the Greek Freak's every action during his tenure in Milwaukee.
Doc also discussed how being surrounded by his brothers allowed Giannis to stay within his bubble and not form the deep bonds he once had in the locker room with the 2021 title team. That, in part, led to tension in the locker room and a feeling of alienation that ruined their chances of creating a new-era title contender in Milwaukee.
But Rivers was the strategist and vocal leader behind the team for three years. It was Rivers' responsibility to make sure Giannis was giving himself to the team and not isolating himself. He didn't want to ruffle feathers or impact his own relationship with Giannis, and in turn, and in the end, they both let Milwaukee down.
The conversation did not stop there, either, as Rivers finally offered some criticism of the trade saga and finally admitted to Giannis' role in it.
Doc Rivers' candid conversation about Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks finally admits his role in the trade saga.
Simmons also discussed the Giannis trade saga with Rivers, and pulled a truth out of the former Bucks coach that easily could've been assumed, but he couldn't say it aloud during his time in the role:
"In Jon [Horst]'s defense, I think Giannis kept yoyoing, you know? I think when I look back on that whole situation, Giannis wanted out, but he was a Buck, and he didn't want to be the bad guy. He wanted Jon and Wes [Edens] and those guys to say, 'We're trading you,' instead of him asking for a trade. To me, that was the game being played."
This is the most candid thing we've heard from anyone not named Giannis about this trade saga. Bucks fans felt what was happening, and in an effort to keep Milwaukee from resenting him, Giannis distanced himself — likely so it wouldn't hurt as much when he was eventually traded.
That aspect is what left a sour taste in the mouths of Bucks fans when it was all said and done. Not that Giannis felt like it was time to move on, or that he wanted to go to Miami, but that he wouldn't just come out and say it. However, many Bucks fans' ire remains with Rivers himself, whose hapless half-court sets and uninspired strategy were the on-court undoing of teams Milwaukee hoped would contend for another championship.
However, dozens more factors that were completely out of either Giannis' or Doc's control led to the end of that era in Milwaukee, and no one person alone should assume the blame. The Bucks have moved on and are refocused on building something fresh, just as Doc and Giannis should as well.
Add us as a preferred source on Google