Doc Rivers Told Bucks Players to ‘Google Me’ in a Meeting

Doc Rivers is likely on his way out in Milwaukee after a disastrous season, and somehow, it just got worse.

On Tuesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that on March 2, the night after a blowout loss to the Bulls, Rivers called a team meeting and proceeded to embarrass himself. Charania claims Rivers, “implored his team to, ‘Look at my résumé,‘ and ‘Google me. I took teams to the playoffs and championship that weren’t supposed to be there. I thought this was one of them.’”

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Stealing Curt Cignetti’s “Google me” line was certainly a choice for Rivers. Unfortunately, it didn’t hit they way it did for Indiana’s football coach.

“That was not well-received internally,” Charania said. “That was just another example of the disconnect between player and coach.”

Not shocking. The arrogance is astounding. If you want to know just how flat that line fell, Charania reported no fewer than six players ran to tell him the story.

Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers talks with small forward Paul Pierce. — Doc Rivers led Paul Pierce and the Celtics to an NBA title in 2008, but he’s struggled in the postseason in his various stops since. | Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

This is where I remind you that Rivers has an NBA championship on that résumé, and will add Hall of Fame inductee later this year—I didn’t need to Google it. In 2008, the Celtics beat the Lakers in six games to win a title. It’s worth noting that roster was led by All-Stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo, while also boasting an excellent bench. Everyone expected that team to compete for and possibly win a title. And it did. That squad was also pushed to six games by a Lakers team missing Andrew Bynum and featuring Vladimir Radmanović in the starting lineup.

Rivers’s teams have only reached the conference finals two other times. The Celtics lost in the 2010 NBA Finals to the Lakers, and in 2012, Boston was bounced by LeBron James and the Heat in seven games. In the 14 seasons he’s coached since that season, his teams haven’t progressed beyond the conference semifinals. The Bucks did win the NBA Cup in 2024, though, so make sure you don’t leave that off the résumé he’ll soon be polishing.

His tenures with the Clippers and 76ers ended in disappointment despite significant hype surrounding them. He had loaded rosters with both franchises and fell flat. In fact, he won only two division titles in those 10 seasons and failed to live up to projections in the playoffs.

In 27 seasons of coaching, Rivers is 1,193–863 (.580) during the regular season, and 114–112 (.504) in the playoffs. The 64-year-old is in his third season leading the Bucks after taking over in January 2024. He started working as a consultant for the team in December 2023, and when the team fired Adrian Griffin after 43 games, Rivers took over.

The Bucks went 17–19 on his watch in 2024 and lost in the opening round of the playoffs. The team was 48–34 last season and, again, was out in the opening round. Milwaukee is currently 31-47 and 10 games out of the final play-in game spot and star Giannis Antetokounmpo is likely on his way out of town.

Things have gone sideways since Rivers showed up, and his call to “Google me” fell flat for a reason: his players didn’t need to. They’re well aware of who he is and how many times his teams have fallen short.

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