Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the most talented, unique players the NBA has ever seen. His size and strength, mixed with his all-around ability on both ends of the floor, make him a once in a generation type basketball player. His resume is incredibly impressive, and barring a crazy occurrence, he’ll waltz into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Even though Antetokounmpo has had a stellar NBA career (so far), he’s had nine different coaches during his 14-year playing-career. Doc Rivers is one of those coaches. Rivers was at the helm of the Milwaukee Bucks for parts of three seasons (2023-2026).
Doc Rivers Publicly Criticizes Giannis Antetokounmpo
And while that was right around the time Antetokounmpo started to deal with the injury-bug, his play and statistics remained top-notch when he was healthy and on the floor. Rivers has been out of the NBA coaching-scene since he stepped down as the Bucks head coach following the 2025-26 NBA season. But that didn’t stop the former NBA champion winning-coach from throwing some serious shade Antetokounmpo’s way.
During an appearance on “The Bill Simmons Podcast”, Rivers spoke at length about what it was like to coach Antetokounmpo. His comments were anything but positive.
“He’s not easy. He plays at this crazy downhill pace. He’s really a difficult guy. He has this great passing ability, but he doesn’t have a super-high IQ at the same time. He really has only one way of playing. Every play, he wants to force it. I wish he’d learned how to execute better,” Rivers said.
Rivers may have a championship to his name, but these are some heavily critical comments about one of the best players he’s ever had the privilege of coaching. It’s also difficult to understand where exactly these comments are coming from.
The three seasons Rivers coached Antetokounmpo, the two-time NBA MVP posted his highest field-goal percentages of his career (61.1%, 60.1, and 62.4%). The “Greek Freak” also posted back-to-back seasons of 30.4 points per game, finishing top-five in MVP both year, while also being named to the All-NBA First-Team.
Rivers Continues Bashing Antetokounmpo’s Play
While the public could argue Rivers actually got the most out of his uber-talented power-forward, the now 65-year-old, former coach doesn’t appear to see it that way. Rivers would go on, even expressing things Antetokounmpo still needs to learn at this point in his career.
“The thing he still needs to learn is the value of execution how important it is, when you’re in practice and at shoot around, to lock in on execution. Now he has a coach who’s as good as there is at execution,” Rivers said.
It seems Rivers attempted to finish off his comments on a semi-positive note. He points out that Miami Heat head coach, Erik Spoelstra is as good as anybody at coaching execution. Rivers must think Spoelstra will finally extract all that unfulfilled potential Antetokounmpo’s been leaving on the table all of these years.
The Heat have undoubtedly struggled this season, sitting with a record of 3-6. But that hasn’t stopped Antetokounmpo from dominating on both ends of the floor. He’s averaging 27.3 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game. He’s also played in all nine of his team’s games so far this season.
Doc Rivers Makes Extremely Critical Comments About Giannis Antetokounmpo