Doc Rivers has unflattering assessment of Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the best basketball players alive, but his former coach was not quite as complimentary of the former MVP.

Former Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers had some critical comments about Antetokounmpo, who he coached for parts of three seasons. While Rivers was full of praise for Antetokounmpo’s raw ability, he essentially said in an appearance on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” that the Greek forward’s game lacked refinement.

“He’s not easy because he plays at this crazy downhill pace,” Rivers said, via Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “He’s really a difficult guy. … I was telling someone this. He has this great passing ability, but he doesn’t necessarily have super IQ at the same time. It’s really a strange thing. And he really has one way. Downhill, forceful. Every play, he wants to force it.

“There’s times where I wish he’d do one thing. I wish he’d learn how to execute better. He’s one of those guys, you get a lot of them from the U.S., AAU guys, who have never needed to execute, because they can do it on their own. That doesn’t help the team.”

Rivers predicted that a trade to the Miami Heat and working under coach Erik Spoelstra would help Antetokounmpo improve his ability to execute the gameplan.

The comments are pretty bold, since it almost makes Rivers sound downright dismissive of Antetokounmpo’s immense ability. Antetokounmpo has won a title and shown he can work within the framework of a team, even if Rivers did not come away entirely impressed with his ability to do so.

Rivers’ comments are somewhat emblematic of his tenure with the Bucks. He struggled to gain the respect of the team and never really defined a style of play for them. For that reason alone, many people might dismiss the coach’s comments quite quickly.