Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers ruffled the feathers of Stephen A. Smith this morning regarding comments Rivers made about his past coaching wins and losses. Rivers is no stranger to making controversial statements, and he’s certainly no stranger to controversy in general when it comes to his time in the NBA. The championship coach has had his peaks and valleys over the years, and his competency as a head coach has come under fire in recent years. What won’t help him is his statements to Marc J. Spears of Andscape, where past playoff losses and the Los Angeles Clippers, among other topics, came up.
Stephen A. Smith Puzzled By Doc Rivers’ Public Statements
Milwaukee Bucks Coach Doc Rivers Takes Shots at 2020 Los Angeles Clippers Team; Stephen A. Smith Questions His Reasoning
What you can’t take away from Rivers as a head coach in the NBA is the championship he won with the Boston Celtics in 2008. He coached a dominant team ripe with superstars and, at the time, future Hall of Famers. That championship was 17 years ago; Rivers has not won a title since. Instead, what he’s known more for in that time is expectations not met, playoff blunders, and game seven defeats (Rivers has 10 game seven losses, the most by any coach all time). On top of these significant blips on his resume, Rivers hasn’t helped himself much with specific statements and comments related to his coaching career or the present situation at the time of the statement. Since taking over in Milwaukee, Rivers has had a few post-game press conference slip-ups that left many scratching their heads.
One example is his most recent comments regarding his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers. Rivers coached the Clippers from 2013-2020. His final season there resulted in a blown 3-1 series lead over the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs. It was a bad look, but his comments about that series made to Spears are even worse.
“No, in the Bubble, I had a group of guys that didn’t want to be there,” Rivers said. “[Ex-Clippers guard] Lou Williams said [on a podcast in 2023], ‘Look, we were trying to leave. We made the decision that we didn’t want to be there.’ So, I felt that. I knew that. The greatest part about coaches is we keep things in a vault. I could see that. And what bugs me about the Bubble is I couldn’t get them to understand that we had a chance to win. That’s what bugs me. They wanted to go home more than they wanted to win. And I still don’t understand that. I’m too competitive. And I really thought that team had enough.”
Stephen A. Smith Responds to Rivers’ Comments
Rivers’ statement about his former Clippers team might not be controversial if it is indeed true and his players did quit. The controversy comes into the picture due to Rivers’ public admission of the matter, and it’s the public nature of it all that threw Stephen A. for a loop on First Take this morning in reaction to Rivers’ comments on the criticism of his repeated 3-1 blown leads in the playoffs.
“Why are you doing this, Doc Rivers?” Smith said, exasperated.” This is a disaster for me, personally…I will give him credit for the fact that this argument is consistent. It is something he has said to me directly on several occacrions, and do you know what I’ve said in response? Please don’t say that publicly. Please, do not say that publicly. Don’t say it, don’t say that publicly.”
Rivers’s statements are indeed puzzling in that he said them out loud, on the record, and they’re out there now. It certainly doesn’t help his image, and who knows how it might affect the team he currently coaches in Milwaukee, who is pushing for the playoffs and looking to compete for a championship. Rivers certainly has his wins throughout his career, and even Stephen A. acknowledges Rivers is a great coach. That said, Rivers continues to do himself a disservice by saying the things that should be kept silent out loud.
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