Report: Bucks’ Doc Rivers Not On Hot Seat Despite Shaky Start To Season

November 13, 2024

Coach Doc Rivers‘ job is safe despite the rocky start to the Bucks’ season, in which they’ve sort of bumbled and stumbled to just three wins in their first 11 games, per NBA reporter Sam Amick of The Athletic.

Milwaukee has high expectations and ownership appears to believe there is still plenty of time to get things turned around. Rivers recently told reporters in Cleveland that he speaks with part-owner Jimmy Haslam every day. (Haslam is also the majority owner of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns.)

Nonetheless, none of this means the Bucks intend to just fully stay the course.

“I could certainly see the Bucks doing some kind of deal, if not more than one, before the Feb. 6 deadline,” Amick wrote. “But in terms of the big stuff that comes with their team’s calculus — (Giannis Antetokounmpo), (Damian Lillard), Doc and (Khris Middleton) — I don’t see anything changing.

“For those asking about whether Rivers could be on the hot seat, let’s not forget the Bucks paid him approximately $40 million on a three-and-a-half-year deal less than a year ago. What’s more, (GM Jon Horst) is facing pressure because of how these past few seasons have gone, and league sources are skeptical he’d be given the leeway to make another coaching change this soon.”

Meanwhile, Rivers has exuded confidence that things won’t always be so rocky. “We will make the playoffs,” he said recently. “I’m not worried about that.”

Overall, he suggested everyone associated with the organization remains hopeful.

“The team’s very positive. I think they’re upbeat,” Rivers said. “No one wants to lose. We have some tough games coming up, but one win at a time. We win three or four in a row and then the numbers say you have an 80 percent chance to make the playoffs, you know? So that’s where numbers are so silly sometimes, especially early in the year. And we don’t pay much attention to them.”