play
‘Internal The NBA’ crew react to Doc Rivers’ departure from Bucks (1:26)
Charles Barkley functions to the Bucks’ players as regarded as some of the factors why Doc Rivers is leaving Milwaukee. (1:26)
Doc Rivers is departing because the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, sources told ESPN on Sunday.
The Bucks will embark on their third head instructing search in three years. The Bucks pays Rivers his eight-settle wage for the 2026-27 season. The franchise and Rivers are discussing whether or not he’ll pass to an advisory characteristic within the organization, sources acknowledged.
This begins a summer season of exchange for the Bucks after Rivers went 97-103 at some level of his three seasons in Milwaukee, with two first-round playoff exits and missing the postseason and play-in match this season.
Crew sources acknowledged there was a season-long disconnect between Rivers and the players, including cases that pissed off the locker room.
“[The season] didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, obviously,” Rivers acknowledged after Milwaukee dropped to 32-50 with a loss to the 76ers on Sunday. “I always say I could do a better job. We could have had better health. We could have had all kinds of things. I’m not a big guy at looking back. All you can do is look forward. We did a lot of things to improve a lot of the young guys. Unfortunately, that was the road that kind of presented itself for us, and we did that.”
Rivers took over as coach for the Bucks in leisurely January 2024, replacing Adrian Griffin, who had long gone 30-13 ahead of being fired. Rivers guided the Bucks to a 17-19 designate to obtain the 2023-24 advertising campaign. Milwaukee went forty eight-34 in Rivers’ first full season in 2024-25.
Rivers dealt with injuries to his prime players in every season. Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo missed time within the 2024 and 2025 playoffs, and Antetokounmpo was healthy for factual 36 video games in 2025-26.
Rivers, who was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Reputation Class of 2026 and led the 2007-08 Boston Celtics to an NBA championship, ranks sixth all time amongst NBA coaches in celebrated-season wins and fourth all time in profession playoff victories.
The Bucks snapped a trip of 9 consecutive postseason appearances this season. They’ve not received a playoff series since 2022.
Milwaukee received the 2021 championship beneath Mike Budenholzer, who was let fling in 2023.
ESPN’s Jamal Collier contributed to this anecdote.
