The Doc Rivers era for the Milwaukee Bucks hasn’t gotten off to a great start. The team is 3-7 in its last 10 games with Rivers and has fallen from second to third place in the Eastern Conference.
Coaching a team in the middle of the season is not the easiest position to be in, but still. You’d think a team with Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo on it would find a way to live up to expectations here.
The Bucks haven’t done it so far. And Doc Rivers is already making excuses about why the team hasn’t during his stint there as the head coach. He’s already pointing the finger at his players.
He told reporters at All-Star weekend that some players were still ready to play while the Bucks had some other guys “in Cabo.” Yes, that’s a real quote.
Doc Rivers: “We had some guys here, some guys in Cabo.”
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) February 16, 2024
This is how it goes with Rivers, man. Things go wrong and it’s somehow never his fault.
A lot of people are tired of hearing these excuses from Rivers. Count his former player and former ESPN colleague JJ Redick among them. He lambasted Rivers on ESPN’s First Take for making excuses about the Bucks’ play already.
JJ Redick calls out his former head coach Doc Rivers, who he will be replacing on ESPN/ABC's NBA Finals coverage.
"I've seen the trend for years. The trend is always making excuses. Doc, we get it. Taking over a team in the middle of a season is hard… it's always an excuse.… pic.twitter.com/NeTGnP1Suw
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 20, 2024
“I’ve seen the trend now. I’ve seen the trend for years. The trend is always making excuses. Doc, we get it. Taking over a team in the middle of a season is hard. It’s hard. We get it … But it’s always an excuse. It’s always throwing your team under the bus. They lose to Memphis — oh, it’s his player’s fault … There’s never accountability with that guy. There’s never accountability.”
Redick has a point here, man. Fans were with him on this one, too.
