Doc Rivers is entering his first full season as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024-25, after taking over mid-way through last season. During the Bucks’ first preseason game in 2024 against the Detroit Pistons, Rivers was asked what he was most excited about for the campaign and had an interesting response.
“Doing my Black job,” Rivers said.
Rivers was, of course, throwing shade at Donald Trump there. Back in June, Trump had stated that illegal immigrants were taking Black jobs and that comment hadn’t gone down too well. Rivers also referred to that comment toward the end of his pre-game press conference earlier in the day.
“Vote Kamala. Everybody, get out and vote, Rivers said. “Let’s keep doing our Black jobs. Thank you.”
Rivers and Trump were on good terms at one point, as they had golfed and dined together thanks to a mutual friend, but those days are long gone. Rivers was on Team Hilary Clinton in 2016, Team Joe Biden in 2020, and is now on Team Kamala Harris in 2024. He’s hoping to be on the winning team once again as was the case in 2020.
Getting back to basketball, Rivers’ Bucks lost 120-87 to the Pistons in their preseason opener. The starters and the main rotation players looked good, but the young players did not, which is slightly concerning. It was just one preseason game, though, and it’s too early to draw any conclusions.
While Rivers won’t be judged on this game or the three others that are coming after it, the microscope will be on him when the regular season starts. The Bucks struggled after he took over during the 2023-24 season and were then knocked out in six games in the first round of the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers. He had been brought in to elevate that team and they ended up sinking under him.
Rivers at least had the excuse last season that he was brought in midway through the campaign but he doesn’t have it now. If they struggle again, he is going to come under fire.
Patrick Beverley Wants Doc Rivers To Get More Respect
Rivers’ stock isn’t all that high at the moment and it would appear he was ranked 22nd in some head coach power rankings recently, which annoyed Patrick Beverley. Beverley compared Rivers to Phil Jackson and stated he needs to get more respect.
“You gotta have Greek [Giannis] on that Christmas Day game… They’re trying to slander Doc [Rivers], I don’t know. I’ve seen some coaching rankings, they had Doc (at) 22. Dawg, I almost threw my f**king phone. Phil Jackson is Doc Rivers, man! They got to put more respect on my coach’s name. It’s getting disrespectful. They wouldn’t do Phil Jackson like that, why are they doing Doc like that? It’s wild…”
Well, considering Jackson never went over a decade without even making the Conference Finals like Rivers has now, it makes sense why he never got this treatment. The fact of the matter is that Doc has to prove that he is still an elite coach. He has had one too many failures in the postseason in recent years and unless he leads the Bucks on a deep run, he is not going to get much respect.
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