Bucks HC Doc Rivers Sends Giannis Antetokounmpo Warning to NBA

Feb 6, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers talks to forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

While the NBA season is young, Giannis Antetokounmpo is looking highly capable of earning his third career NBA Most Valuable Player title.

Through seven games, Antetokounmpo is averaging 32.3 points, 12.6 rebounds and 6.3 assists. His field goal percentage of 67.7 percent ranks fourth in the league, and his most notable of the 88 field goals he's hit this season was his step back game winner against the Indiana Pacers.

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Antetokounmpo pulled off his dominant performance against the Pacers despite working through a left knee injury that left him listed as questionable on the Bucks' injury report ahead of the game. The knee looked pretty good on the fadeaway game winner — just the second of Antetokounmpo's career.

“I just wanted to make sure I take the last shot,” Antetokounmpo said after the game. “Like, a possession or two before, I shot a shot and I was short, so the only thing I was thinking about was, ‘Start your dribble at like six seconds. Shoot it at like two or one second, and just shoot it long.’ Which I did, and it went in.”

For Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, Antetokounmpo's hot start to the season isn't a surprise given what he's seen the nine-time All-Star do in the gym.

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"He just keeps working. He works on his game. He's very serious abut this profession. He keeps adding to his game," Rivers told reporters. "And when you watch him work at the gym, you understand it. The best form of leadership is your best player just getting to work every day and it kind of makes everyone else do it too."

Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging a ludicrous 34 points on 70% true-shooting.

Doc Rivers: “I don’t think we’ve seen his best yet” pic.twitter.com/ClDW46AzzD

— The Athletic NBA Daily (@AthleticNBAShow) November 4, 2025

Giannis currently has the fifth-shortest odds to win the league MVP behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama.

If the season ended today, Antetokounmpo's 32.3 points would beat his career high by over a point, but Rivers isn't ready to call this stretch Antetokounmpo's best of his career just yet.

"I can't judge that. It's the best I've seen" Rivers said. "But I don't think we've seen his best yet, any of us. I think he's just going to keep getting better."

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