Even Doc Rivers thought the Milwaukee Bucks were making a mistake upon making an abrupt head-coaching switch just 43 games deep into the season.
Rivers was in a similar position last season, at the helm for the Philadelphia 76ers with an NBA MVP in Joel Embiid and the pressure of making a deep playoff hunt. But as has been the case in several of Rivers’ coaching stops, the Sixers crumbled and blew a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Boston Celtics, prompting Philadelphia to show him the door.
During the following offseason, Rivers took a gig with ESPN’s broadcast crew until the Bucks came knocking and chose to fire Adrian Griffin after leading Milwaukee to a 30-13 head start as the-then No. 2 seed in the East. To many, including Rivers, that move came as a head-scratcher.
“Personally, to be honest, I told (Bucks ownership), ‘I don’t understand why you’re doing this,'” Rivers said Tuesday on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “One of the things they said was, ‘Well, it doesn’t matter, we’ve done it now and we want you.’ And so that was a tough one. That’s where you had the hesitation.”
If Rivers thought the pressure was on in Philadelphia, multiple that times at least four with Milwaukee fresh off a dissapointing playoff exit last season plus an offseason in which franchise star Giannis Antetokounmpo threatened to leave if adjustments weren’t made.
So far, Rivers has begun to buckle under the pressure yet again. He’s led Milwaukee to a 3-7 start, falling to the third seed in the East, and within that discouraging stretch, suffered a loss to the limping Memphis Grizzlies — a team that’s gone 7-20 at home and is the 13th seed in the Western Conference. That’s inexcusable, regardless if one would care to point out Damian Lillard’s recent absences or any other reach to justify failing to show up.
At this point, referencing the past isn’t unfair in the case of Rivers. Time and time again history has repeated itself and there’s no wiggle room for the Bucks especially, meaning Rivers needs to get the pendulum to swing in Milwaukee’s favor — and fast.
The Bucks need to reach the conference finals, and a trip to the NBA Finals would help solidify Rivers’ case for a return. Anything else would warrant yet another lost job and return to the ESPN sideline booth for the 62-year-old.
