Giannis and Doc Rivers disagree on reason for Bucks loss to Wolves

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks were blown out by a Minnesota Timberwolves team without Anthony Edwards or Rudy Gobert on Tuesday night, and after the game Giannis disagreed with Bucks coach Doc Rivers’ reasoning for Milwaukee’s poor performance.

Rivers, in his customary postgame press conference, cited dead legs as a big reason for the Wolves’ roaring victory. The Bucks wrapped up a four-game West Coast road trip on Sunday, and certainly didn’t appear overly spry at any point versus Minnesota.

Rivers went so far as to say he and the Bucks protested the quick turnaround to the league during the schedule-making process, and apparently got their next game against the San Antonio Spurs pushed back a day to Thursday.

Ironically, Rivers followed this line of reasoning with the phrase “no excuses.” This has been a criticism of the veteran coach in other stops as well -- that sometimes there is a shortage of accountability from the top.

Giannis didn’t buy his coach’s explanation for the loss. In his own interview with reporters after the game he was asked if dead legs were to blame and he affirmed, several times, that the team couldn’t blame tiredness for the loss.

Big difference in postgame quotes between Doc & Giannis

Doc: "I thought we were playing with dead legs."

Giannis when asked if he thought it was dead legs: "I don't think it's dead legs. Come on... that cannot be an excuse. Dead legs cannot be an excuse. We have to be better." pic.twitter.com/5yYiMHHnRL
— Nathan Marzion (@nathanmarzion) January 14, 2026

Giannis also discussed being booed by the home crowd and booing them back, a soberingsnapshot of the tough spot the Bucks find themselves in.

All of this comes just days after Milwaukee lost to a Denver Nuggets team without Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Christian Braun and Cameron Johnson. After that game, Giannis questioned why the Bucks have struggled to this degree in his postgame media availability with reporters.

“Why should we always be playing from behind? Why? And when we have a lead, why do we always have to give it up? We gotta be able to be mature, get the right shot, don’t be comfortable with any lead that we get and understand how we gotta play.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo per The Athletic

The continued losing is wearing on the Bucks organization. Given the team’s woeful performance and current spot below the Play-In Tournament in the Eastern Conference, Giannis continuing to publicly disagree with his coach’s assessment of the team is a trend worth monitoring. There haven’t been any reporting on Doc Rivers’ seat being warm, but theteam’s recent results indicate that he’s not the right coach for the Bucks.

If Giannis shares that opinion, that seat could heat up quickly.