Besides a lone championship in the 2007-08 season with Boston, Doc Rivers hasn’t had much playoff success as a head coach. In 215 playoff games coached over 24 seasons, Rivers is 111-104. The 62-year-old was fired as head coach of the 76ers at the end of last postseason. To start 2023-24, Rivers was an in-game analyst for ESPN.
However, the Milwaukee Bucks fired their head coach Adrian Griffin. He did not even get the chance to finish a full season with the Bucks. After Griffin’s firing, Milwaukee was quick to hire Doc Rivers. Since taking over as head coach, the team is 3-7. Rivers gave public comments about how taking this job was harder than he expected. One of his former players and current ESPN analyst JJ Redick went off on Rivers for never having accountability and always having an excuse. Strong comments from Redick who did not hold back.
Was JJ Redick right for calling out Doc Rivers for never having any accountability in his coaching career?
.@jj_redick on Doc Rivers 😳 pic.twitter.com/JRgLD1rx74
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 20, 2024
In 2016-17, Doc Rivers took over as head coach of the LA Clippers after nine seasons in Boston. That season was also JJ Redick’s first year with the team. Redick and Rivers crossed paths for four seasons with the Clippers. Recently, the now Bucks head coach made comments about how he’s had to adjust to taking over the coaching job mid-season. It’s the first time Rivers has done that in his career.
However, JJ Redick did not want to hear the endless excuses Rivers continues to give. On ESPN’s First Take, Redick explained how he has seen this trend happening for years. He’s viewed it from an outside lens and up close and personal as one of Rivers’ players. It’s safe to say that there is validity behind what Redick is saying. The former NBA player was clearly upset about having to listen to his former head coach have an excuse for everything that goes wrong.
JJ Redick calls out Doc Rivers
“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. It’s always throwing your team under the bus… there’s never accountability with… pic.twitter.com/c23NKIVm7L
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 20, 2024
Additionally, Redick made comments about Rivers always throwing his team under the bus. He claims the 62-year-old never takes accountability. A perfect example was Milwaukee’s last game before the all-star break. The Bucks lost 113-110 to an inferior Grizzlies team. After the game, Rivers would not take accountability for the loss. Redick spoke about this in his rant about Rivers and said this is not the first time he’s seen it happen. His co-host of First Take Stephen A. Smith said this could be Rivers’ last head coaching job if he doesn’t win a championship in the next two seasons.
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