Doc Rivers has been known to throw his players under the bus. Now he’s expanded that to the travel staff.
After the Bucks dropped a game to the 15-win Washington Wizards, Rivers told reporters the team lacked professionalism on the road, where they are 18-20 this season.
“I’ve just been sitting back and watching everything. Not just our players but our travel crew, everything,” he said. “Everybody seems happy, you know, but except for me after our game.”
Wednesday night, the Bucks lost 111-101 to Memphis in Milwaukee, suggesting that they also don’t have professionalism and seriousness there.
Damian Lillard is out with a groin injury and Giannis Antetokounmpo looked tired Wednesday, but the comments from Rivers seem to follow a pattern noted by his former player, ESPN’s J.J. Redick, who criticized Rivers in February for “always making excuses…always throwing your team under the bus.”
Now it seems that Rivers is even blaming the team’s travel staff for their losses. Doc Rivers has never hesitated to blame a player for his team’s failures, but usually he doesn’t scapegoat the team’s equipment managers or logistics experts. Apparently they aren’t booking hotel rooms and arranging busses with enough professionalism?
Weirdly, it’s not the first time someone on the Bucks has blamed the staff for not being sufficiently committed.
Maybe the equipment manager really is slacking? Are the Bucks losing games because their uniforms are filthy? Does Antetokounmpo play better when he has his preferred fabric softener?
In seriousness, it’s a bad sign that the playoffs haven’t arrived yet and Rivers is already blaming people for his disappointing team, which has a .500 record since he took over. If the team doesn’t get it together soon, the Bucks’ accounting department, public relations staff and even Bango the Buck might be the next ones that Rivers blames.
