With just two more games left to play (including tonight against the Nets), it’s the end of the line for Doc Rivers and the Milwaukee Bucks.
With so much to talk about, it’s going to take more than one conversation to explain what happened this season. Still, in a recent appearance on FanDuel TV, Doc Rivers did his best to address some lingering concerns. First, he began by explaining his viral locker room comments, which reportedly included telling the players to “check his resume.”
“That was taken so out of context,” Rivers said. “I wouldn’t say anything about the meeting because it’s no one’s business. I hate that ‘allegedly’ there were players who talked, and I think it was more agents who talked than players, but you know, there’s always one. But it was taken out of context with what I was trying to say. I had a guy who kept talking about his stats. I was basically saying the same thing, ‘Well, I have stats too.’ It was a reference to the Indiana football coach (Curt Cignetti).”
By Rivers’ account, it’s not that the reports are untrue, but that they fail to tell the whole story. Doc didn’t bring up his resume just to stoke his ego; he only did it to humble a player who was trying to question his capabilities. As an NBA champion and former Coach of the Year with over 1,000 wins on the job, Doc Rivers has earned his place, and he commands respect, even as trade rumors and other whispers continue to linger.
“It’s my first losing season in 20 seasons,” said Rivers. “It’s an amazing streak, I just didn’t know it. It doesn’t mean a lot, it just means you’re winning a lot. But it started early. All the rumors: is Giannis gonna stay, is Giannis not gonna stay. And then the injuries. Honestly, trying to keep this locker room together has been very difficult. When you can’t get everyone to buy into the cause, it’s hard. One of the areas I didn’t see as much as I should have is that all the rumors about whether your best player is here or not, it affected our locker room. That’s tough to hold together.”
Trade rumors are an unavoidable part of the Giannis experience, but most of the noise came from one source in particular: Shams Charania. Despite Rivers’ passionate denials, Charnaia continued to spread doubt that Giannis would stay with the Bucks. The situation eventually became a running joke within the organization, much to the shargin of Shams.
“I made a joke before All-Star, where I said ‘Giannis should trade Shams.’ Shams took that so personally that he actually called the Bucks and yelled at them to take it down,” said Rivers. “I’ve heard from about 10 different people, like ‘Shams is going to do a revenge article on you.’ So that’s the only thing that makes sense about it, is the purpose. I read that article, and I was like, ‘What is this article for?’ He’s young, he’s emotional, but hopefully he’ll grow.”
Rivers is suggesting here that the story was actually revenge by Shams Charania over his comments at All-Star weekend. Back then, he called for Giannis to trade Shams at the celebrity game in response to all the rumors swirling about Giannis. Apparently, he didn’t take it well, and (allegedly) responded with the smear piece against Doc.
Whatever the future holds in store for that rivalry, Doc has more important things to worry about right now. With Giannis’ future still uncertain, and the Bucks in a precarious roster situation, there’s no easy way out of their current predicament. For Rivers, it’s just a miracle that he kept the locker room together, but it’s anyone’s guess how long it will hold out.
