“There’s been a lot of expectations on our team,” Lillard said. “Things have been expected to look a certain way. We’ve had a bumpy road to our success, which is sometimes a part of the process. I was surprised. But it’s part of the game. People get traded, people get waived, people get fired, and that’s never something you want to see.”
Doc Rivers’ new contract with the Bucks runs through the end of the 2026/27 season and will pay him approximately $40MM, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Rivers quickly emerged as the favorite for the Milwaukee job after Adrian Griffin was fired as head coach on Tuesday. A report yesterday indicated that the two sides had reached an agreement in principle for Rivers to take over. Assistant Joe Prunty is serving as interim coach until a replacement is finalized, and he picked up his first victory last night as the Bucks defeated Cleveland.
General manager Jon Horst refused to comment about Rivers during a meeting with reporters on Wednesday, but he said the team hopes to fill the position quickly. He also expressed confidence that the new coach can repair the defensive issues that led to Griffin’s dismissal.
Speaking to reporters after Wednesday’s game, Giannis Antetokounmpo said he was caught off guard by the coaching change, according to Jamal Collier of ESPN.
“I’ve got to trust the front office, I’ve got to trust the ownership group that they consider the bigger picture,” Antetokounmpo said. “My job is to be the best version of myself, to lead this team out there and help win games. Their job is to create the best team possible and the best atmosphere around the team possible that they believe gives us a better chance to win a championship. But yeah, I do think [firing coach Griffin] was a surprise.”
Some observers have suggested Antetokounmpo might have played a role in the move because he was among the veterans who were unhappy about the new defensive philosophy that Griffin was trying to implement. Antetokounmpo denied that rumor, saying he and Griffin have a good relationship.
“I loved the guy. I invited him to my wedding,” Antetokounmpo said. “I was coached by him and we did very, very, very well. When somebody is being hired, the GM might come and ask, ‘What do you think about that? What do you think about this?’ or whatever and not just me — players, people that he trusts their advice. But at times, they make it seem like it’s the players that are making the decision.”
Damian Lillard also told reporters that the firing was unexpected, but he admitted the team hadn’t played as well as it could under Griffin. Among the criticisms of Griffin is that he didn’t do enough to maximize the Lillard-Antetokounmpo combination on offense.
Lmaooo. How does Doc keep fleecing these front offices?? $40 million just to fold in the playoffs?? Not my money I guess.
The bucks went from champion contenders to 2nd round exits. What a shame :(
Uhuuuu no more Doc Rivers commenting on ESPN. Bring back Jeff Van Gundy!
No thanks
Van Gundy is articulate, humorous, knowledgeable, self deprecating. These are qualities which …
Pathetic. This crooked league will do anything to make this clown a winner.
What? You think the NBA is collectively trying to get Doc Rivers another ring? Loosen that tin foil hat buddy your brain is choking
Wake up. He got the consulting job and fed bad intel to Griffin. Griffin was a patsy. Now Doc is here to inherit what he stole. Loosen that saran wrap its cutting off the circulation to your brainium!
Lue did it twice. What Lue did to Blatt was the worst. Then, once Lue got mega contract grom Cavs, he literally quit on them wthout losing his pay. Rivers then gave him another lifeline and Lue took the job away.
Dont worry about Griffin. He is getting head coach pay for the next few yrs. Once that’s over, Rivers and other fellow head coaches will give him another coaching gig(assistant).
Somebody check on Monty Williams and make sure he’s ok…
Milwaukee had Coach Bud and fired him for an asst coach. To fix the error they bring a choker three time greater than Coach (39-26) Bud. Doc “Loser” Rivers is 16-33 when he has 3 wins in a series the worse record by far.
Doc out there missing shots? Go watch those games. Not a shot you can blame even 70% on Docs coaching.
This hiring is a huge win!
For the Celtics and 76ers.
Maybe Giannis & Dame have some big summer plans that they couldn’t let an extended playoff run interfere with so they suggested Doc to ensure no interferences?
How much of $40m is Sixers paying???
Why hasn’t Vinny Del Negro gotten another shot at being a head coach? Doc Rivers stinks.
Silly question, but does the coach’s salary factor into the salary cap? If so, it’s fair to wonder if the money the Bucks are investing in now 3 head coaches (Budenholzer, Griffin, and now Rivers) would be more wisely allocated towards building and supporting the roster itself.
No. They can pay the coaches whatever they want. It is still funny that they’re paying three different coaches for like the next three years, though.
Not a good decision from Bucks FO, they still having a good record and definitely they will make the playoffs regardless so what was the rush to hire Doc Rivers so fast instead explore another options, I think this was and inside job from somebody in the FO and I know for sure that they will regret it.
This is insanity, anyone whose watched Doc’s teams know how bad he is. Watch any sixers film from last year (with Harden) under Doc and this year under Nurse. They’re night/day. Dude’s offensive is literally just iso, he has 1-2 inbound plays, and doesn’t make adjustments. His teams get smashed in the 3rd quarter all the time. Any success they have this year will be in spite of Doc.
The winners of this are the Celtics, Sixers, and any of those bigger market teams that wanted to entice Giannis to come. This is the first death rattle of the GF in MIL.
I don’t believe Giannis for 1 second. The Bucks fired Bud and hired Griffin because Giannis liked him and they wanted some continuity. Your team is 30-13 and the coach (who the star player wanted in the summer) is fired without the star player knowing a thing? BS! Giannis may not have demanded Griffin get fired but he certainly would still be the coach if Giannis stood behind him.
Any film that includes James Freaking Harden can be tossed. He’s out there playing his own obnoxious game.
Fine then, watch the film of last year when Harden was out. Maxey & Embiid are so different under Nurse than Rivers. What I’m saying is that Doc had a better overall roster and starting lineup last year than Nurse does this year and you can see the difference.
Doc is basically the NBA version of that youth league coach. When they have a bad stretch, in the huddle he’s saying to them, “c’mon guy, play some defense” (which was his go to speech during timeouts). Instead of showing them why it’s not working and what adjustments were going to make. If the team was upset with the adjustments Griffin made, they’ll be upset knowing Doc doesn’t make adjustments.
Lots of people think you just roll the ball out there and the players decide who wins. Elite coaching does help you win games and Doc isn’t that guy.
@cwizzy: Will never understand why people like you rain hate on Harden. He’s always in the playoffs and the Clippers are 20-4 since the beginning of December. Haters gonna hate but Harden is still playing great.