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Doc Rivers bares he told the Milwaukee Bucks he didn't understand why they were firing Adrian Griffin
Doc Rivers recently admitted being hesitant about accepting the head coaching position of the Milwaukee Bucks, saying he questioned the front office’s decision to can previous head coach Adrian Griffin, who had guided the Bucks to a 30-13 record before his dismissal.
Didn’t understand why they were doing it
Speaking on SiriusXM NBA Radio's The Starting Lineup with Frank Isola and Ryan McDonough, the veteran coach shared he was upfront with the Bucks’ decision-makers, saying he didn’t quite understand why Griffin was given the pink slip. Rivers even functioned as Griffin’s adviser during his brief tenure with the Bucks.
“Personally, I’ll be honest, I told ownership when they called, ‘I don’t understand why you’re doing this,’” Rivers said.
“One of the things they said was, ‘Well, it doesn’t matter, we’ve done it now, and we want you.’ And so that was a tough one, that’s where the hesitation...”
The transition hasn’t been seamless
Rivers took over the Bucks at the start of a tough five-game road trip out west, where they won only one game. Things haven’t improved since then, as Milwaukee has slumped to a 3-7 record in their last ten games, including consecutive losses capped by a mindboggling defeat to the lowly Memphis Grizzlies.
However, despite Doc’s ignominious start in Milwaukee, he appears better suited to guide the Bucks through the postseason than Griffin. Under Griffin, Milwaukee’s once-elite defense crumbled to the point where the team gives up a whopping 120 points to opponents on a nightly basis.
