After the Milwaukee Bucks’ messed-up season, most could tell what was coming. But Giannis Antetokounmpo’s reaction said he wasn’t part of that herd.

Standing at the 32-50 record is far from how the Bucks wanted their regular season to be. What followed was the Head Coach Doc Rivers’ step down. But the Bucks’ star was more surprised at the news than most others.

“I haven’t heard it yet. It’s a shock to me…,” said Giannis. “He’s had 25 years as an incredible coach, almost 15 years as a player, he’s been in the NBA for 30-40 years, he’s definitely an NBA legend. You guys know he’s a Hall of Famer. It’s great working with him.”

While Doc didn’t announce a complete retirement, he ruled out of his $40M contract with the Bucks. And surprisingly, even during the Bucks’ last game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Giannis wasn’t aware of this news.

“I gotta go call him, I gotta go see if any of that is true”, Antetokounmpo said, after finding out the news from reporters. It was hard to believe that the coach, who joined the program in mid-season 2024, was parting ways.

However, the Bucks didn’t label Rivers’ leaving as “firing”, which they made obvious during Adrian Griffin’s time. And before going, Rivers had something to say about Giannis.

Doc Rivers on Giannis Antetokounmpo

It hasn’t been long since the Bucks’ star indirectly shaded the Coach’s mentality while expressing frustration about the team’s playoff exit. But that tension didn’t matter when things came to an end, though.

“I just want to see it end well for him, like I really do”, said Rivers during his last press conference. “Giannis is a fantastic person. I’ve been lucky to coach a lot of stars, and he’s right at the top as far as just good people. And I want good people to be taken care of.”

Per him, both the franchise and their star player deserve a better season, a title win. And unfortunately, it didn’t come through him.

Moving forward, who can the Bucks bring as a coach to fix the fractured locker room? Comment it down.

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Written by

Deblina Roy

Edited by

Souvik Roy