It's Time for Doc Rivers to Go

Doc Rivers has coached in the NBA for 27 seasons, won NBA Championships, coached Hall of Famers, and is listed as one of the top-15 coaches in NBA History.

But over his last 10 years as a coach, he has struggled, failed to get over the hump, had his teams lose multiple series in which they had a 3-1 lead, and now it's all crashing down.

The Milwaukee Bucks are 26-35, the 11th seed in the East, and continue to fall short with or without Giannis now.

Many have called for his firing much earlier in the season pointing to Adrian Griffin getting fired at 30-13, but Coach Rivers is still here after countless pitfalls. Questionable closing rotations, a team that lacks effort, a team that fails to make adjustments. Sure, the roster isn't the greatest. But they have Giannis Antetokounmpo and numerous lineups that have worked really well over extended periods.

Now over the last four games, Milwaukee has been in each one. It snapped off a solid winning streak before the All-Star break to put themselves in a position to make a push for the play-in when Giannis returned and instead have gone backwards.

In the last four games, Milwaukee has lost by 29, 23, 27, and 18 -- while in three of the contests they were held under 100 points, that is simply unnacceptable. It is even worse, when you look at how the games switched out of the half.

Bucks second halves over the last week:

41 pts vs Knicks
31 pts vs Bulls
38 pts vs Celtics
5 pts in 7 mins vs Hawks

Just hopeless stuff from these guys.
— Frank Madden (@fmaddenNBA) March 5, 2026

Sure, can some of the blame be sent out to the players, of course. But it is also easy to note, that the other teams are making adjustments, and the Bucks are not. This has been the case all season, no matter who is in the lineup. Take away Milwaukee's three point looks, the offense becomes stale. Force Giannis to stay down low, and suddenly teams are hitting open threes all over the court.

Rivers had this to say after the latest letdown:

“We scored 18 points in the third quarter. Seems like every game, we have that one quarter right now. I mean, what, we shoot 70 percent in the first quarter, 64 percent in the second quarter. And I told our guys at halftime, ‘We had a team shooting 64 (percent) and a team shooting 60 (in the first half).’ I think 3s were even. We might have been up two. I said, ‘The second half’s gonna come down to stops and 3s.’ They had eight (3s) in the third quarter, and I thought that was the difference in the game. They can’t make seven more 3s than you and you expect to win the game.”
Doc Rivers

When the same problem continuously persists, maybe an adjustment needs to be made?

The Bucks season has been a disaster. From the Giannis rumors to the blowout loss to the Nets, the three losses to Washington, the inability to win away from Milwaukee, and the constant headache of the decisions and press answers made by head coach Doc Rivers.

There was a time where coach Rivers was among the league's best, but that time has passed, it has long passed, and Milwaukee needs to move on sooner rather than later.