{"id":597967,"date":"2026-04-21T17:28:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/597967\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T17:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:28:11","slug":"doc-rivers-it-was-100-percent-my-decision-to-step-away-from-milwaukee-bucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/597967\/","title":{"rendered":"Doc Rivers: \u2018It was 100 percent my decision\u2019 to step away from Milwaukee Bucks"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014 A relaxed Doc Rivers<\/a> ate breakfast at the Ritz Carlton-Charlotte as he had done countless times before on road trips as head coach of the Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers and, most recently, the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a>. <\/p>\n

As his coffee was being poured, his waiter \u2014 identifying as a Bucks fan \u2014 thanked him for his time with the franchise and his contribution to the game.<\/p>\n

Hours later, rather than being on the sideline inside the Spectrum Center leading his team into battle against the Hornets, Rivers was at his granddaughter\u2019s youth soccer game, where she scored two goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s feels strange. Usually after the season, you\u2019re already looking at [the next one],\u201d Rivers said. \u201cBut it\u2019s been great so far. I\u2019m golfing. I\u2019m in town to see my grandkids. So, I\u2019m doing exactly what I said I wanted to do. In a year from now, I may need something to do. I don\u2019t know. TV is something I want to get back into. Front office, maybe. And that is where me and the Bucks transitioned to once I told them where I wanted to go. And even with that I said, \u2018Let me wait.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

So, is it possible that Rivers, 64, has coached his last NBA game?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s very possible,\u201d Rivers said to Andscape.<\/p>\n

\"DocDoc Rivers had a 97-103 record in two-plus seasons with Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

Jesse D. Garrabrant\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Bucks announced Rivers\u2019 departure in an April 13 statement. Milwaukee will pay Rivers his eight-figure salary for the 2026-27 season, sources told ESPN. The recently named Naismith Hall of Fame coach told Andscape it was \u201c100 percent my decision\u201d to leave. <\/p>\n

Rivers had a 97-103 record during his two-plus seasons with Milwaukee, leading to two first-round playoff exits and missing the postseason this season. The Bucks won the 2024 NBA Cup under Rivers, but they had a 32-50 record this season, with All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo playing just 36 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a hard decision. It\u2019s probably on your mind your last couple years,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cIt had nothing to do with the season or anything like that. There\u2019s times where you feel like you\u2019ve had your run. I still love it. I still love coaching. But I don\u2019t ever want my job to become work. I guess that is the best way of saying that. It\u2019s more of a labor of love. So, I just felt like it was time. It was not like some lightning strike or something like that. I told ownership that a while ago. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 64 with kids, grandkids. And I\u2019m not like a lot of the other coaches. A lot of the other coaches, when they get fired, they\u2019re off a year or two years. I\u2019ve never had that. I\u2019ve [coached] for basically 26 straight years. So that\u2019s what I was thinking: \u2018Man, when am I going to start enjoying things?\u2019 I still want to be in the game and do something. I don\u2019t even know where that goes. But I just thought it was time. This was my decision. It was 100 percent my decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivers ranks sixth all-time in career coaching victories (1,194). The 2000 NBA Coach of the Year led the Celtics to a championship in 2008 and an NBA Finals appearance in 2010. He was named one of the 15 greatest coaches in NBA history in 2022 by a panel of 43 current and former NBA head coaches in collaboration with the National Basketball Coaches Association. He has amassed 114 NBA playoff wins, fourth-most all-time.\u202f<\/p>\n

If Rivers has indeed coached his last game, it was the Bucks\u2019 126-106 road loss to one of his former teams, the 76ers, on April 12. Rivers said Bucks ownership and the front office knew of his decision before the game. Rivers said 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey, whom he coached in Philadelphia, had received a tip that the end was near and offered him well wishes prior to the game.<\/p>\n

In hindsight, Rivers wishes he had told the Bucks players he was leaving.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bucks [ownership and executives] knew because obviously we had told them,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cBut the [cameraman] during the national anthem, the guy just stood there the whole time [in front of me]. It was tough getting through that. Tyrese knew on the other team. That\u2019s why he came over before the game because my son, Spencer, told him. But it was cool.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to tell the players anything, and I probably should have. After the game, I should have said something. As I always say, \u2018You don\u2019t get everything right.\u2019 I didn\u2019t go in the locker room after we won the title [in Boston]. You make decisions. I may be the only coach in the history of sports that did not go into the locker room after you win the NBA title. When you see all the champagne, there\u2019s no me in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DocOne of the biggest challenges for Doc Rivers and the Milwaukee Bucks this season was all the speculation surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo\u2019s future. <\/p>\n

Michael McLoone-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Rivers said he started thinking about leaving coaching prior to training camp for the 2025-26 season. It was the first time as a coach that he wasn\u2019t excited about the arrival of training camp. Rivers said he \u201cowed it to his employers\u201d to be honest about those feelings. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was never not fun, but I was just worried it wasn\u2019t going to be,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cIf you start thinking about retirement, you are retired, and I never thought about it [before]. Then all of the sudden, I started thinking about it a lot. So, that voice was always in my head.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the biggest challenges for Rivers and the Bucks this season was all the speculation surrounding\u00a0Antetokounmpo\u2019s future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo was involved in trade rumors, but the Bucks ultimately didn\u2019t move him prior to the trade deadline. The 10-time NBA All-Star, who led the Bucks to a title in 2021, expressed interest recently in signing a $275 million extension that he is eligible for this offseason. He also said last week he was frustrated with the Bucks being far from a title contender and his poor communication with the franchise brass.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wore on everyone,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t even know how it could have been handled different or not. I have a lot of compassion for Giannis. I think everybody knows that, because I do think he has the right to change his mind. He has the right to want to stay. \u2026 The dude won a title for the franchise. And if he wants to stay in Milwaukee for his whole career, and even if they don\u2019t win and they don\u2019t get the right guys, it should be his choice. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere used to be a time where players were celebrated for that, for being loyal and staying. And then if he wants to leave, he has the right to do that, too. He\u2019s going to be a free agent in a year. I just didn\u2019t like all the talk all year, because no one knew what they were talking about because Giannis didn\u2019t know. He felt one way and then he would change the next week. But I kept telling him, \u2018But that is OK.\u2019 It\u2019s a huge decision for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivers will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame during the class of 2026\u2019s enshrinement ceremony on Aug. 15 in Springfield, Mass. He accidentally had his ringer on silent when Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame president John Doleva called to try to give him the news. After finding out about the honor, Rivers said he got emotional when he told his brother, Grady Rivers Jr., who spoke about how proud his parents would have been if they were still alive to enjoy this moment.<\/p>\n

Rivers said he has already been working on his speech and has changed it numerous times. While he hasn\u2019t decided on Hall of Fame escorts to bring him up to the stage, he wished former college coach and mentor George Raveling was still alive to attend. Rivers said his Hall of Fame induction will also be meaningful because it\u2019s in New England, where his most storied coaching took place with the Celtics. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was awesome. I\u2019ve never been that comfortable with that kind of stuff,\u201d Rivers said of being named a Hall of Famer. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to downplay it. But, even today I am still getting congratulations [messages]. That is very uncomfortable for me. I didn\u2019t set out to be in the Hall of Fame. I made it to the Hall of Fame. It wasn\u2019t like, \u2018I want to be a Hall of Fame coach.\u2019 Now, it\u2019s awesome.\u201d <\/p>\n

Marc J. Spears is the senior NBA writer for Andscape. He used to be able to dunk on you, but he hasn\u2019t been able to in years and his knees still hurt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014 A relaxed Doc Rivers ate breakfast at the Ritz Carlton-Charlotte as he had done countless…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-597967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}