Shaquille O’Neal Issues a Harsh Reality Check on Doc Rivers’ Latest Honor: “He Didn’t Deserve That”

Doc Rivers’ recent All-Star honor isn’t convincing to anyone in the game. Rivers is currently the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, and he only arrived there over a week ago. Despite that, he has been given the responsibility to coach the Eastern Conference team for this year’s All-Star game.

Recently, Shaquille O’Neal chimed in on the debate with his take on whether Rivers deserves the spotlight. Going with the popular narrative, Shaq said that he didn’t deserve that, and he knows it.

During the Bucks press conference Rivers made it clear that he understands his honor is only circumstantial and that he didn’t actually earn the spot this year. He said, “That is ridiculously bad. It really is.” He said that he’s going to get some money off this gig, and a ring but he isn’t sure if he’ll actually coach the players. He said, “Maybe I’ll send my staff and I’ll go on vacation”. Despite Rivers’ acknowledgment of the situation, Shaq didn’t spare him while discussing his comments. On today’s episode of Pregame Show, the Big Man said, “Doc’s been around the game for a long time, and he knows he didn’t deserve that.”

Calling Doc Rivers’ appointment “accidental” and “circumstantial”, Shaq O’Neal said that he was only given this position because Joe Mazzulla is not eligible to coach this year.

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What led to Doc Rivers’ appointment as the All-Star coach?

It’s clear as day that the Bucks coach only got the job because he was the next best option only because of the association with his new team. The Bucks were 2nd in the East when this appointment was made and that was due to the efforts of the team under Adrian Griffin. Since he was fired and Rivers joined the team on January 26th, he became the go-to choice for this year. As for the Boston Celtics head coach, he coached the All-Star team last season so he isn’t eligible to do it all over again due to the NBA’s rule.

Rivers has maintained his stance on this opportunity and he understands what landed him in this position. The Bucks coach, shortly after joining his new team talked about Griffin, referring to him as his friend. He said, “Adrian and I are good friends. I talked to Adrian the last three days. I talked to him the night of the firing, I talked to him, we talk a lot. Listen, I wanted him to do well.” Regardless of the situation that led Rivers to this point, the fate of the East rests on his shoulders for now.

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