Doc Rivers shoots down Stephen A. Smith's report about his career

Rumors of Doc Rivers’ retirement may have been greatly exaggerated.

The Milwaukee Bucks head coach Rivers spoke out this week on the bombshell report that recently emerged about his future. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith notably claimed earlier in the week that Rivers supposedly intends to retire after this season.

Rivers was asked about the claim during his media session after the Bucks’ practice on Friday. The 64-year-old head coach dismissed Smith’s report and disputed the notion that he plans to retire.

“No, I’m not getting into that,” Rivers said, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “That’s something that, I think [Smith] feels that way, but not for me.”

Now in his 27th career season as an NBA head coach, Rivers has really seen his reputation nosedive in recent years. In addition to his long history of playoff collapses, the former champion coach Rivers has had a rough go of it in Milwaukee, going 91-88 (.508) with zero playoff series wins since taking over in 2024. That includes a brutal current season for the Bucks during which they now sit five full games out of the play-in tournament at 26-35.

Rivers is still under contract with Milwaukee for next season at roughly $10 million. With no guarantee that he ever lands another NBA head-coaching job after this, perhaps Rivers intends to coach out the remainder of his deal or to otherwise force the Bucks to fire him so that he receives the full remaining value of his contract.