Austin Rivers, Lou Williams defend Doc Rivers from JJ Redick's criticism
JJ Redick was the talk of the sports world Tuesday for lambasting his former Clippers coach, Doc Rivers. During a live broadcast of ESPN's "First Take," Redick suggested that the current Bucks coach never hesitates to throw his "team under the bus" and constantly makes excuses for his team’s shortcomings.
"There's never accountability with that guy," Redick fumed before being cut off by Stephen A. Smith.
Redick's outburst led to Austin Rivers coming to the defense of his father on ESPN's "NBA Today" broadcast. Rivers disputed the notion that his father hasn't been held accountable, pointing out that he's been fired by two teams (Clippers and Sixers) over the last four years.
"For someone who's supposedly not held accountable, he seems to always be held responsible," Rivers said. "He’s always the guy getting fired when things don’t go right. He got fired in the bubble for [blowing] a 3-1 lead versus the Nuggets [when] half his team didn’t want to be there.
“Then he gets fired for losing a team favored over him – the Celtics last year. All this is strange coming from JJ. Your best years were with the Clippers.”
Lou Williams -- who spent three seasons playing under Rivers -- also came to the defense of his former coach. Speaking on Fan Duel TV's "Run it Back," Williams recalled times when Rivers would enter the locker room and accept ownership for the team blowing leads or losing close games.
"There were games and situations where he came in and said, 'Damn, I screwed that up. I really messed that up. I'll fix that and I'll be better.' And there were times when he was like, 'Y'all need to do better.' That's the balance of being a good coach," Williams said.
The Bucks are 3-7 since Rivers took over as their head coach. Most believe there isn't a team under more pressure entering the stretch run of the regular season.
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