Draymond gets real about Doc Rivers.

 

Golden State Warriors All-Star forward Draymond Green is one of the most opinionated players in the league. So, naturally, he chimed in on the ongoing discussion around Doc Rivers’ tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks. Although the Bucks have won two in a row after the All-Star break, they started the Rivers regime with a dismal 3-7 record, leading the latter to call out his players’ efforts, especially in their 113-110 loss to the severely shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies.

Former player-turned-analyst JJ Redick took note of Rivers’ comments and called out his former coach, admonishing him for his lack of accountability. In his podcast, Green echoed Redick’s sentiments, saying, “Every interview is another excuse, and that just can’t work.”

Knew what he was getting himself into
Green explained that Doc couldn’t wash his hands clean of the situation, as he knew what he was getting into when he took the job. As a matter of fact, Rivers functioned as Adrian Griffin’s adviser before the latter got fired in January, so he knew what issues were plaguing the Bucks.

“You knew what you were signing up for, Doc. You took over a team more than halfway through the season, losing seven of the last 10. You knew what you was getting yourself into; you knew the issues the team had before you got there,” Green emphasized.

“You knew all of these things. You can’t go and make excuses now because you were actually brought in to fix those very things. So you can’t come and make the same excuses for the things that were already known, because if that’s the case, you couldn’t really accept the job with the money that they already gave you.”

Spoke of time in Philadelphia

Sunday’s game marked the first time Doc was in Philadelphia since he got fired from the Sixers’ head coaching position in May 2023. Rivers shared he was happy with his tenure in the “City of Brotherly Love,” although he wished some things could have been different.

“I was happy with it overall. I just wish we could’ve got further, gone further. I wish I could’ve have had a chance to have Joel (Embiid) healthy in the playoffs. But when I took this job here (in Philadelphia) I think they got swept the year before in the first round. That regular season, the next year, we won the East, lost to Atlanta – I would love to have that one back as a group – but overall, Joel became an MVP, we established this team as a championship contender. That wasn’t said the year before. And under a lot of stuff. You think about we had the James Harden trade, the Ben (Simmons) stuff, so it was a lot of stuff going on. Some was under my control, some was out of my control,” Rivers said.