{"id":1969,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/1969","headline":"Doc Rivers says Giannis was hard to coach, dodged 'bad guy' role in exit","dek":"The retired Bucks coach also said Damian Lillard was never properly welcomed in Milwaukee.","body":"Doc Rivers, who stepped down as Bucks coach after a 32-50 season, spent two and a half hours on Bill Simmons' podcast unpacking his tenure in Milwaukee, and he did not hold back on Giannis Antetokounmpo.\n\nRivers called Giannis \"difficult\" to coach and said he doesn't have a \"super-high IQ,\" adding that his former star was essentially playing games while trying to engineer his way out of Milwaukee rather than asking directly for a trade. According to Rivers, Giannis \"didn't want to be the bad guy\" as he pushed for an exit.\n\nRivers also revisited the Damian Lillard era, saying Lillard was \"never welcomed\" properly after arriving from Portland in a three-team deal that sent Jrue Holiday to the Trail Blazers and Grayson Allen to Phoenix, just before the 2023-24 training camp opened. Rivers took over as head coach midseason after Adrian Griffin was let go, finishing with a 97-103 record in Milwaukee.\n\nNone of it added up to playoff success. The Bucks failed to get past the first round in both 2024 and 2025 under Rivers, and his candid comments now offer a blunt postmortem on why the Giannis-Lillard pairing never clicked.","published_at":"2026-11-06T18:06:59.271911+00:00","source_count":6,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Doc Rivers: Damian Lillard 'never welcomed' properly with Bucks","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/doc-rivers-damian-lillard-never-202726392.html"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Doc Rivers: Giannis' style 'difficult' to coach, star didn't want to be 'bad guy' in Bucks exit","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7759569/2026/11/06/giannis-antetokounmpo-doc-rivers-comments-criticism-bucks/"},{"outlet":"New York Post","publisher":"New York Post","title":"Giannis Antetokounmpo is ‘difficult’ to coach: Doc Rivers","url":"https://nypost.com/2026/11/06/sports/giannis-antetokounmpo-is-difficult-to-coach-doc-rivers/"},{"outlet":"CBS Sports","publisher":"CBS Sports","title":"Doc Rivers says 'difficult' Giannis Antetokounmpo 'didn't want to be the bad guy' while forcing Bucks exit","url":"https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/doc-rivers-giannis-antetokounmpo-bucks-trade/"},{"outlet":"Awful Announcing","publisher":"Awful Announcing","title":"Doc Rivers says Giannis Antetokounmpo was hard to coach: ‘He doesn’t have a super-high IQ’","url":"https://awfulannouncing.com/news/doc-rivers-giannis-antetokounmpo-hard-to-coach.html"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Rivers: Giannis was playing games when trying to leave Bucks","url":"https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/50399276/doc-rivers-giannis-antetokounmpo-bucks-exit-coaching-star"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Doc Rivers shares criticisms of Giannis Antetokounmpo's game − and how he can improve","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/doc-rivers-shares-criticisms-giannis-071259914.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Doc Rivers shares what ‘surprised’ him about Giannis Antetokounmpo when he was Milwaukee Bucks coach","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/doc-rivers-shares-surprised-him-095004154.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Doc Rivers gets brutally honest about why it was hard to coach Giannis Antetokounmpo","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/doc-rivers-gets-brutally-honest-112230957.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Doc Rivers says Giannis Antetokounmpo was hard to coach: ‘He doesn’t have a super-high IQ’","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/doc-rivers-says-giannis-antetokounmpo-143051110.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Giannis Antetokounmpo 'didn't want to be the bad guy' and ask for trade from Bucks, says Doc Rivers","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/giannis-antetokounmpo-didnt-want-to-be-the-bad-guy-and-ask-for-trade-from-bucks-says-doc-rivers-150218010.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Doc Rivers hits Heat when they are down, questions Giannis’ IQ","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/doc-rivers-hits-heat-down-154500389.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Doc Rivers says coaching Giannis is ‘not easy’","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/doc-rivers-says-coaching-giannis-140000358.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Doc Rivers throws Giannis Antetokounmpo under the bus after messy Bucks break-up","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/doc-rivers-throws-giannis-antetokounmpo-164508429.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Doc Rivers talks Giannis Antetokounmpo leaving Bucks, challenges of coaching superstar","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/doc-rivers-talks-giannis-antetokounmpo-171122916.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Doc Rivers: Damian Lillard 'never welcomed' properly with Bucks","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/doc-rivers-damian-lillard-never-202726860.html"},{"outlet":"Awful Announcing","publisher":"Awful Announcing","title":"Cam’ron destroys Doc Rivers over Giannis Antetokounmpo slander: ‘He’s overrated’","url":"https://awfulannouncing.com/nba/camron-doc-rivers-giannis-antetokounmpo.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Giannis Antetokounmpo is ‘difficult’ to coach: Doc Rivers","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/giannis-antetokounmpo-difficult-coach-doc-172635250.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Ex-Bucks coach Doc Rivers questions IQ of Heat’s Giannis Antetokounmpo","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ex-bucks-coach-doc-rivers-220900416.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"‘He doesn’t necessarily have a super-high IQ’: Doc Rivers slams Giannis Antetokounmpo","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/doesn-t-necessarily-super-high-223323058.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Doc Rivers Criticizes Giannis Antetokounmpo For Being Hard To Coach: “Doesn’t Have Super IQ”","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/doc-rivers-criticizes-giannis-antetokounmpo-002236425.html"}],"image":{"url":"https://s.yimg.com/lo/mysterio/api/a6a993c8d7afe79367d2166167725e68e092442a495c1e20f4665e7304577cc1/lightyear_networkapi/resizefill_w1200_h675%3Bquality_80%3Bformat_webp/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fmilwaukee_journal_sentinel_natl_articles_362%2Fb866e2c930b414ce48b65bf5da2cbee2.jpg","credit":"Yahoo Sports","width":1200},"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}