Coach Doc Rivers rats out his bench after the 3rd loss this season. The Wisconsin side shouldered by superstars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard struggled to turn things around after a promising start. Tonight, they took on the mighty Boston Celtics at TD Garden and put up a neck-to-neck fight but threw it all away in the fourth quarter, as the superstar duo lacked support. While it seemed like the obvious reason behind the loss, Coach Rivers called out players despite his infamous accusation.

Yes, Doc Rivers has a solid history in a blame game. The Lakers coach, JJ Redick, who was with ESPN before once called him out for not taking accountability on live TV. Anyway, before we shed light on that, let’s take a look at tonight’s scenario. Giannis and Dame put together 63 points. Meanwhile, the rest of the starting line-up pitched in 26 points. On the other hand, the bench put together 19 points.

Speaking of it after the loss, Rivers said, “I don’t like moral victories but I just thought that’s what we can be you know at least for three-quarters thought we kind of you know ran out of gas a little didn’t get a lot of help tonight from our bench so we extended minutes.” Bobby Portis Jr., the leader of the Bucks‘ second unit, couldn’t make much impact tonight, dropping 4 points in his 19-minute stay.

Notably, Portis has consistently pitched in crucial buckets for the Bucks in the last four seasons, averaging 13.4 ppg from the bench. So, it’s quite unfair from the player’s perspective to get called out for an individual off night. Especially with Doc Rivers, who has garnered a reputation for not taking accountability, caught our attention!

Doc Rivers and his brief history blame game

When discussion ensued about Rivers’ blame game, the first instance that comes to mind is the Ben Simmons scenario. Back when the Aussie baller represented the Sixers, the team went deep in the 2021 postseason but unfortunately lost the series in Game 7. Speaking at the press conference after the loss, Rivers threw Simmons under the bus and blamed him for the loss.

The media immediately took the affairs into their own hands and called out Rivers for not taking accountability. In response, the seasoned coach said, “I had a terrible press conference after that Game 7… We lost. I said something — I meant something different, but it was taken differently… I don’t know if the whole Ben thing was going to happen regardless, but I didn’t like me being a part of that.” 

While it seemed like Rivers had learned his lesson, it continued even after that. Notably, he once blamed the travel staff for the Bucks’s loss last season. And Redick called him out, saying, “I’ve seen the trend for years. The trend is always making excuses. Doc, we get it. Taking over a team in the middle of a season is hard… But it’s always an excuse.” Nevertheless, the bottom line is, the star coach doesn’t seem to have learned his lesson. What do you think is the reason for the Bucks’ loss tonight? Let us know in the comments.