Controversy follows Doc Rivers, but an NBA championship may be his reward this time.
Adrian Griffin was fired from the Milwaukee Bucks after just 43 games into the season and with a league second-best record of 30-13. Former consultant, Doc Rivers will now be taking over as head coach in the Buck’s pursuit of a second title in the Giannis era.
Above all, the roster apparently lost faith in Griffin as a coach. However unfortunate, the Bucks enacted the inevitable – though the reality of a first-year black head coach meeting his demise so soon, with success, does sting a bit more.[
The hiring of Doc Rivers most certainly comes with detractors. Accusations of “dirty-macking” and footstool stepping have already descended upon the move, and Rivers’ history of 3-1 blown leads in the playoffs has resurfaced to boot. And while Rivers most certainly has more to prove of his coaching stature beyond one championship now fifteen years old, he still is a good hire.
There’s a bit of disingenuousness in calling the lack of championship rings on Doc’s hand proof of his shortcomings as a coach. Those Lob City Clippers and that inevitable fiasco in Philadelphia were never truly seen as favorites in the chase for rings. And what happened at those places after Doc’s dismissal? Continued disappointment.
The Milwaukee Bucks are in win-now mode and don’t have any time to waste, and neither does Rivers. With a quickly aging acquisition in Damian Lillard and Antetokounmpo at the peak of his powers, urgency is of the highest order.
Doc Rivers will need to get this team to an NBA Finals appearance, and his mission can be nothing short of that. But finally, being able to coach proven champions and the man who lets you know what time it is…. Maybe it’s just what the Doc ordered.
