Nobody is under any illusions that the NBA — just like every other professional sport — isn’t a cutthroat business.
People are hired and fired on a whim. Players with non-guaranteed contracts are snipped from rosters like loose ends. Folks are traded at a moment’s notice and have their entire lives uprooted. It’s always been that way.
But, man. There’s something about the Doc Rivers situation with the Milwaukee Bucks that just isn’t sitting right with me.
Rivers has officially been hired as the Bucks head coach despite our collective doubt of CNN Sports’ reporting (which is a thing, I guess?).
It’s all kind of unbelievable, but it’s real. Just a day after the Bucks fired Adrian Griffin, here the team is hiring Doc Rivers. The two sides are already reportedly working on putting together his new coaching staff, according to Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes.
Doc Rivers and Bucks general manager Jon Horst will collaboratively work together on coaching staff personnel with the expectation of adding to an already great group of coaches the organization values, sources say. https://t.co/gYLYPnUjL1
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 24, 2024
This is all just kind of strange, isn’t it? Things are happening so fast. One day, one coach is in Milwaukee. The next day there’s a new one. You’re probably asking yourself “How in the world is that possible?”
Well, as it turns out, the Bucks have been in contact with Rivers for quite some time. Maybe not in a formal interview process, but Milwaukee has been getting insight on how he’d run the team for at least a month.
According to The Athletic, Rivers was hired by the Bucks as a consultant for Griffin’s staff in December. A month later, he’s hired.
“League sources say Doc Rivers, who is an ESPN analyst after getting fired by the Philadelphia 76ers last May, began to serve as an informal consultant to Griffin at the behest of the Bucks. One month later, multiple sources briefed on the matter now indicate that Rivers is the serious leader for the now-vacant position and the preferred choice of key stakeholders.”
Look, we can’t possibly know that the Bucks brought Rivers on as a consultant ultimately to push Griffin out of the way. But there’s no debating that that’s what it looks like. The optics look terrible here.
Fans called the Bucks out after seeing this.
Yep, in early December they were definitely only talking to him as a consultant, and there were absolutely no discussions about him coaching prior to Tuesday. We definitely all believe that, right? https://t.co/ll509bs29i
— Anthony Doyle 🇵🇸 (@Anthonysmdoyle) January 24, 2024
Pro Tip: If you're a rookie coach, and early in the season the teams brings in an extremely experienced coach "to consult," you'd probably be wise to make vacation plans in February. https://t.co/1MfMw0C1Er
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) January 24, 2024
absolutely nasty work 😂😂😂 https://t.co/NggjM6AOsm
— Jason Patt (@Bulls_Jay) January 24, 2024
Cold game! https://t.co/U1TvqYZ6yY pic.twitter.com/V5TIm0ogwF
— breezega (@breezega) January 24, 2024
“Informal consultant” they really back doored Adrian Griffin this is nasty https://t.co/51iLjPckqC
— Ron Ryan (@MondayNightRon) January 24, 2024
extremely nasty work https://t.co/9vC3OXoADN
— the scarlet witch (@samythesaint) January 24, 2024
Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend” but instead of friend it’s “informal consultant” https://t.co/UipmOUsubY
— Grace Marlowe (@graceofthecurls) January 24, 2024
Still owing Bud, and still having to pay Griffin for 3 more seasons after this one, making a "lucrative offer" to Doc of all people is just so funny https://t.co/f9v09HHXRB
— Pat from Portland (@PG3times13) January 24, 2024
“Informal consultant”
They basically been planning this since early December whew. https://t.co/zVDXz9BKSP
— Niko (@nikotaughtyou) January 24, 2024
They did Adrian Griffin like this so they could sign Doc Rivers? https://t.co/oCdSVMZYRc
— Meat Butz (@iammattbetz) January 24, 2024
The Bucks better hope this move works out. If it doesn’t? Whew, boy. That second round exit is going to come with a bit more venom than usual from fans.
