Giannis Antetokounmpo arrived at the Miami Heat after being traded by the Milwaukee Bucks following a lengthy saga that began in May 2025, when the 10-time All-Star first communicated his desire to leave. Antetokounmpo was eventually traded in June 2026, with his former coach Doc Rivers recently shedding light on how the departure went through.
Rivers, who coached Giannis at Milwaukee for two seasons, claimed on The Bill Simmons podcast that Antetokounmpo did not want to be known as the ‘bad guy’ through the saga. And well, Giannis himself recently addressed the comments, per a post on X by ClutchPoints.
Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts to Doc Rivers’ critical comments:
“He’s not my coach. My coach is coach Spo, but he’s a coach that I’ve worked with in the past. I’m speechless. … You gotta go ask him why he thought that. That’s on him. That’s not on me… That’s crazy.”
(via…
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 9, 2026
“First of all, he's not my coach,” Antetokounmpo said. “My coach is Coach Spo, but [Rivers] is a guy, a coach that I've worked with in the past. I'm speechless.”
Giannis proceeded to say that it is Rivers who should be asked why he made the comments, claiming that he himself was focussed on his current team.
“That's on him, that's not on me,” he said. “I just got to focus on my team and what I got to do and how I can be better and how can I help the team. But God, that's crazy. Never let bitterness or pettiness get in front of your goals and dreams”
The two-time MVP then broke out some advice for athletes in general, claiming it was insane to allow pettiness interfere with their plans. Rivers had claimed that Antetokounmpo wanted Bucks GM Jon Horst and owner Wes Edens to trade him without necessarily making an official request.
Article Continues Below“Giannis wanted out, but he was a Buck,” he said. “And he didn't want to be the bad guy. To me, that was the game that was being played.”
Needless to say, the now Miami man is holding his ground, and clearly believes he handle his move in the right manner. For now of course, Antetokounmpo will be intent on helping his team turn their season around, especially after their latest loss to the Sacramento Kings pushed them to 4-6 for the season.