The Milwaukee Bucks look like a completely different team than they did last year around this time, and it's because Giannis Antetokounmpo is with the Miami Heat, and Doc Rivers is not the head coach. Rivers had a front-row seat to the chaos last season where it seemed like the Bucks were going to trade Antetokounmpo before the deadline, but never did.

In a recent interview with Bill Simmons, Rivers shared his side of the story and believes that Antetokounmpo was “yo-yoing” the Bucks into trading him.

“Giannis wanted out, but he was a Buck. And he didn't want to be the bad guy,” Rivers said. “He wanted John [Horst] and Wes [Edens] and those guys to say, ‘we're trading you' instead of him asking for a trade. To me, that was the game that was being played.”

Doc Rivers says Giannis Antetokounmpo wanted out of Milwaukee, but didn't want to look like the "bad guy" to protect his legacy

"Giannis wanted out, but he was a Buck. And he didn't want to be the bad guy. He wanted John and Wes and those guys to say, 'we're trading you' instead… pic.twitter.com/kZB6R0ZArs

— NBABase (@TheNBABase) November 6, 2026

Rivers didn't stop there, and he continued to talk about what it was like coaching Antetokounmpo, and from his experience, it wasn't easy.

“He’s not easy. He plays at this crazy downhill pace,” Rivers said. “He’s really a difficult guy. He has this great passing ability, but he doesn’t have a super-high IQ at the same time. He really has only one way of playing. Every play, he wants to force it. I wish he’d learned how to execute better.

Doc Rivers says Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn’t have a super-high IQ and that he was NOT easy to coach 😳 pic.twitter.com/aywGPNxaEW

— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) November 6, 2026

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“The thing he still needs to learn is the value of execution how important it is, when you’re in practice and at shootaround, to lock in on execution. Now he has a coach who’s as good as there is at execution.”

It feels like Rivers may have been taking some shots at Antetokounmpo, but if this is something he told him while coaching him, it could be fine.