“Cannot Have the Excuses”: Draymond Green Issues Stern Demand to Doc Rivers, Endorsing JJ Redick’s Hot Take

The Milwaukee Bucks shocked the NBA World when they fired head coach Adrian Griffin mid-season while he led them to a 30-13 start. They hired Doc Rivers as the new head coach to build on Griffin’s work and lead the Bucks to a championship. However, Rivers has had a rough start to his Bucks tenure. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co. are 3-7 since Rivers became their head coach. And Doc has failed to take any accountability for Milwaukee’s abysmal run.

Doc has given excuse after excuse during most of his interviews, leaving a sour taste in people’s mouths. Former Clippers player JJ Redick ripped Doc Rivers into shreds on First Take for never taking accountability throughout his career. Just a few days after JJ’s viral rant, Warriors’ superstar Draymond Green backed JJ’s comments on his podcast.

“What he was saying was very accurate. We cannot have the excuses, Doc,” he said. Draymond believed that while JJ’s delivery could have been wrong, his message was right.

Draymond claimed Doc knew what he was getting himself into before he took the head coaching job in Milwaukee. Rivers was hired to fix issues and make the Bucks a championship-level team. But instead of accepting his shortcomings and working on them, Doc has been making multiple excuses.

After Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co. suffered a humiliating loss against the shorthanded Grizzlies in the last game, Rivers wasted no time throwing his players under the bus. “We had some guys here, and we had some guys in Cabo.” Rivers even blamed the tough road schedule for his 3-7 run in an interview during the All-Star Weekend.

Doc Rivers has a history of making excuses

A major reason for JJ Redick’s frustration on First Take was that making excuses has been a trend for Doc Rivers. He has refused to take accountability for his team’s failures and has thrown players under the bus multiple times throughout his career. While Doc was the Sixers head coach, he claimed to have a way better relationship with the players than when he was the Clippers head coach. “That team (Clippers) was never going to win when you look back at it. We just didn’t get along well enough as a group.”

Read More: Did The Lakers Try to Hire Doc Rivers Before Bucks Forced Him to Take Adrian Griffin’s Place?

However, after the Sixers got humiliated in the playoffs, Rivers was quick to switch sides and blame former MVP James Harden. “It was challenging… James is so good at playing one way, and the way that I believe you have to play to win in some ways is different.” Rivers said during a 2023 interview.

Witnessing Doc’s history of making excuses, Draymond Green wants him to take more accountability and focus on the task at hand.