The Bucks’ season began imploding shortly after they decided to bench Giannis Antetokounmpo for the rest of the season when their chances of qualifying for the 2026 NBA playoffs looked slim to non-existent. And when they failed to qualify for the playoffs, they eventually parted ways with Doc Rivers after a struggling tenure in Milwaukee.
Now, Myles Turner, the Bucks’ big new addition from last summer, has unravelled yet another layer of this onion that is the Bucks’ chaotic 2025-26 season. He recorded an episode of his Game Recognize Game podcast with Breanna Stewart and claimed that Doc Rivers had given the Bucks’ players so much freedom that he never fined them and allowed Giannis Antetokounmpo to come late for practices and flights.
Subsequently, these comments were retracted, and the video was taken down from the podcast’s page. But it created a domino effect that arguably cannot be undone in today’s digital era. The video had gone significantly viral, even among former NBA players.
One of them, the seven-time All-Star Joe Johnson, chose to address it on an episode of the NightCap show with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson. He blames Doc Rivers for creating the chaos in the Bucks’ locker room.
“So listen, that probably had a lot to do with why Doc resigned. Because listen, if the animals are running the zoo, how the hell are we keeping everything in order?… The animals run the zoo. Meaning, I come and go when I please. I don’t get policed. I don’t get any repercussions. Ain’t no fines. Man, you’re two hours late to the damn plane. What?”
“Okay. Normally your a– get left. I don’t care who you are. I have seen the star players get left, bro. And yes, you had to book your own flight, and you had to meet us there. I’m telling you that ain’t normal, bro. That’s not normal,” Johnson further added.
“Think about it, though. Hell, he didn’t even play a whole hell of a lot last year. So, he’s probably missing this plane, and he wasn’t even dressing up [for the game].”
“It doesn’t make it right. But what I’m saying is Myles Turner and the crew, they’re out there grinding night in and night out, practicing their a– off. And you mean to tell me you’re still traveling with us, but we still have to wait?”
“And another thing that it tells me about the Milwaukee Bucks players, man, they ain’t respect Doc. Yeah, if you respect your head coach, bro, and you know he’s non-tolerant, right? Your a– is gonna be on time, right? Period. Point blank.
“Now, if you’re lenient, meaning, okay, I’ve been late a couple times and you ain’t there’s no repercussions. I ain’t been punished. I ain’t been fined. Hell, what’s not be late again?”
“I think if your head coach doesn’t command or demand respect, bro. Yeah, the players will try to run over you. That’s just like you being in a relationship with a female. Bro, if you don’t put your foot down, homie, she’s going to do whatever she wants to do.”
Shannon Sharpe also very correctly compared this situation to an ugly and slow breakup in a relationship, saying whenever you know the relationship is about to end, you begin caring a lot less about the other and focus on doing what you want to do.
“I’m gonna tell you all, either Myles Turner or Giannis, one of them is going to be gone,” predicted Johnson.
Just a few days ago, it was reported that the Bucks are now seriously listening to trade offers for Antetokounmpo. Now, of course, Bucks players, like Bobby Portis, refuted the claims that Myles Turner made in the podcast. And amid all the backlash, Turner even retracted his comments.
But the genie is already out of the bottle at this point. Either Myles Turner was lying, which he would ideally not do, as this could cost him his contract with the team.
Or he received instructions from the front office to take down the comments. After all, no team in the league would pay a high price for a superstar with diva tendencies, so it could be possible that this is a PR nightmare for the franchise, for which they are now doing damage control.
However, at this point, it is clear that Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee is currently on thin ice to the point of no likely return, and we could be hearing about a blockbuster trade at any time in the summer.
