Doc Rivers reveals reason for bringing Bucks to Miami for training camp

“Well, because we play Miami in the first game, so it’s just easier. What I love to do, whatever team we play first, make it a warm-weather, nice place that we can just be there,” the Bucks head coach remarked.

“We had Miami first on the schedule. I typically like playing West Coast teams, honestly. But the schedule was kind of set already,” he continued.

The Bucks will kick off preseason next Monday, October 6, against the Miami Heat, and the team expects star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo to join them after a delayed arrival caused by a positive COVID-19 test.

“He’ll be flying in either tonight or in the morning,” Rivers added.

Bucks ready to reload

Antetokounmpo missed the Bucks’ media day and the start of training camp after testing positive, staying overseas while completing protocols, but Rivers’ update shows the two-time MVP has cleared all medical and testing requirements and will now join the team in Miami.

As Rivers and the Bucks gear up for the 2025-26 season, they will integrate key offseason pickup Myles Turner, who joined via free agency after Milwaukee moved on from Damian Lillard, now back with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Turner will take over as the Bucks’ starting center following Brook Lopez’s move to the LA Clippers. He joins a group of new and returning players ready to make an impact, including guards Gary Harris and Cole Anthony, center Jericho Sims, and re-signed veterans Bobby Portis, Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr., and Taurean Prince.

The Bucks closed last season with a 48-34 record, earning the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, but their campaign ended in the first round of the playoffs at the hands of the Indiana Pacers.

In his one and a half seasons as head coach, Rivers has compiled a 65-53 record. When he took over midway through the 2023-24 season after Adrian Griffin’s sudden firing, the Bucks also fell in the first round of the playoffs.