{"id":2185,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/2185","headline":"Giannis says he is speechless after Doc Rivers questions his IQ","dek":"Rivers, who once coached Antetokounmpo, said on a podcast last week that the former MVP doesn't have a super-high IQ and was difficult to coach.","body":"Giannis Antetokounmpo had a few things to say about his old coach after the Miami Heat beat the Sacramento Kings 114-108 on Sunday night. Asked about comments Doc Rivers made last week on The Bill Simmons Podcast, where Rivers claimed Antetokounmpo \"doesn't have a super-high IQ\" and described him as difficult to coach, Giannis did not hold back on his confusion.\n\n\"He's not my coach. My coach is coach Spo, but he's a coach that I've worked with in the past,\" Antetokounmpo said. \"I'm speechless... You gotta go ask him why he thought that. That's on him. That's not on me... That's crazy.\"\n\nAntetokounmpo said he was stunned when he was informed of what Rivers had said, noting the remarks about his basketball intelligence came alongside Rivers' claims that coaching him had been \"difficult\" and \"not easy.\" He made clear the responsibility for explaining the comments lies with Rivers, not him.\n\nThe dustup adds a strange footnote to the working relationship between a former NBA MVP and a coach who once led him. For now, Antetokounmpo appears content to let the question sit with Rivers rather than relitigate the past himself.","published_at":"2026-11-09T23:17:45.300620+00:00","source_count":4,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Giannis Antetokounmpo ‘speechless’ after Doc Rivers questioned his IQ","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/giannis-antetokounmpo-speechless-doc-rivers-213029533.html"},{"outlet":"Awful Announcing","publisher":"Awful Announcing","title":"Giannis Antetokounmpo ‘speechless’ after Doc Rivers questioned his IQ","url":"https://awfulannouncing.com/nba/giannis-antetokounmpo-speechless-doc-rivers.html"},{"outlet":"CBS Sports","publisher":"CBS Sports","title":"Giannis Antetokounmpo stunned by Doc Rivers' 'bitterness and pettiness' after former coach's criticism","url":"https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/giannis-antetokounmpo-doc-rivers-bitterness-pettiness/"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Giannis surprised by Doc Rivers' critical comments: 'Go ask him why he thought that'","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7766832/2026/11/09/giannis-antetokounmpo-doc-rivers-comments/"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Erik Spoelstra Shrugs Off Doc Rivers’ Critique of Giannis Antetokounmpo","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/erik-spoelstra-shrugs-off-doc-125310152.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Erik Spoelstra Pushes Back On Doc Rivers’ Comments About Coaching Giannis Antetokounmpo","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/erik-spoelstra-pushes-back-doc-150026412.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":""This Is Our Business Now": Erik Spoelstra Sends Message After Doc Rivers' Scathing Comments on Giannis Antetokounmpo","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/business-now-erik-spoelstra-sends-150900755.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Heat's Erik Spoelstra takes massive shot at Doc Rivers for Giannis Antetokounmpo comments","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/heats-erik-spoelstra-takes-massive-183556197.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"What Heat’s Erik Spoelstra ‘hates’ about conversation around Giannis’ fit with others","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/heat-erik-spoelstra-hates-conversation-191308688.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Heat’s Erik Spoelstra gets real on Doc Rivers calling Giannis ‘difficult’ to coach","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/heat-erik-spoelstra-gets-real-200223873.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Heat’s Antetokounmpo mentions ‘bitterness or pettiness’ as he tackles Doc Rivers’ critique","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/heat-antetokounmpo-mentions-bitterness-pettiness-065500033.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Giannis Antetokounmpo Reacts To Doc Rivers’ Controversial Comments: “I’m Speechless”","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/giannis-antetokounmpo-reacts-doc-rivers-123034333.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Giannis Antetokounmpo says he's 'speechless' over criticism from former coach Doc Rivers: 'That's insane'","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/giannis-antetokounmpo-says-hes-speechless-over-criticism-from-former-coach-doc-rivers-thats-insane-161755080.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Former Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd defends Giannis Antetokounmpo after Doc Rivers’ blunt assessment","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/former-milwaukee-bucks-coach-jason-164932102.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"‘Maybe I’m tripping?’… Chad Johnson slams Doc Rivers over Giannis Antetokounmpo comments","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/maybe-m-tripping-chad-johnson-192656208.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"10 Hardest NBA Stars To Coach, Featuring Giannis Antetokounmpo","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/10-hardest-nba-stars-coach-203506438.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Heat rumors: Doc Rivers texted Giannis Antetokounmpo to clear the air after basketball IQ comments","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/heat-rumors-doc-rivers-texted-221319089.html"}],"image":null,"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"}