Things haven’t looked great for Doc Rivers and the Milwaukee Bucks.
While it’s a small sample size, since taking over as the head coach, the team has won just once in five games. There’s still a chance he figures it out, but the bigger picture has a lot of people shaking their heads at him.
Beyond current players, former NBA legend Carmelo Anthony, confirmed there aren’t good things being said about Rivers.
“It’s hard, man. Like Doc [Rivers] as a player … Me and Doc have a good relationship, but I’ve never heard anybody say anything good about Doc — a player,” Anthony said on his 7PM in Brooklyn, a Wave Sports + Entertainment Original podcast he co-hosts with The Kid Mero. “Think about it. Let’s go back. Doc’s been coaching for 20-something years.
“… Now I’m not saying nobody, I’m just saying the narrative coming out of those experiences with Doc, nobody has nothing to say good about him, right? I don’t know what the issue is. I’m not in those locker rooms. I just know the narrative around that, is no one has anything good to say about Doc. And to his point, for years, even when Doc was leaving and going to teams, no players [were] supporting Doc … It was just he’s bugging, he’s crazy … Now one turn into three [teams].”
Sports media personality Bomani Jones was the guest on the show, and he offered his two cents on the subject.
“That Chris Paul thing ended with the [Los Angeles] Clippers in that Lob City Era because Chris Paul didn’t want him no more,” Jones said. “But what’s crazy is Chris Paul didn’t want him no more and then they over-achieved like nobody’s business the next year. [Doc] will raise the floor of your team.”
What Jones appears to be referring to was Paul’s exit from the Clippers during the 2018 offseason. According to ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz, when new owner Steve Ballmer reached out to Paul to discuss any reasons for his departure, the point guard referred to Rivers as one of the contributing factors.
Jones then added to the Hall of Fame conversation, saying it won’t likely possess the name of Rivers.
“For me, personally, I think the standard — if you go look at the coaches who are in the Hall of Fame — that standard is so high, that we throw that phrase around so much that it kind of loses something, right? Like if you want to tell me now after [Erik Spoelstra] got the Heat to the Finals twice without LeBron, he’s a Hall of Fame coach, maybe.
“People were saying that to me when he hadn’t won 50 games without LeBron James. Just because you won two championships — like Rudy T [Tomjanovich] just got in. His two championships didn’t matter as to what it is. So, to me, is Doc a Hall of Fame coach? No. But that’s not because I don’t think he’s a good coach. I just got that line up there so high.”
Last month, after Adrian Griffin was fired, Rivers left his gig being the top NBA analyst for ESPN to take over the Bucks’ job. And, well — things don’t appear to be working out.
[ESPN]
