"He Really Has Only One Way Of Playing" - Doc Rivers Did Not Hold Back While Dropping A Truth Nuke About Giannis As A Player

Ezra Shaw. Getty Images.

In the spirit of full disclosure, the Doc Rivers Era in Milwaukee was a complete and utter disaster. You'll remember he was hired after the Bucks (probably Giannis tbh) decided they no longer wanted Adrian Griffin to be the coach in 2023-24, despite their 30-13 record 40 games into that season. In 200 games as the Bucks head coach, Doc went 97-103 (.485). In the playoffs, he went 3-8 (.273). While there were many reasons for such a brutal level of underachievement, Doc himself was certainly on the list. I just think that's important to acknowledge before we move on. Everything from the front office to the coaching to Giannis all played a role in what was the eventual fall of that era of Bucks basketball.

But now that he's no longer a coach and has all this time on his hands, that means Doc can get back to doing what he does best, which is being a podcast guest on Bill Simmons' show. Now that he doesn't have to play the politics game of the NBA, he can be open and honest about things like a normal person. With that in mind, it's not really surprising that Doc dropped a truth nuke when it came to coaching Giannis and who Giannis is as a player

“He’s not easy. He plays at this crazy downhill pace. He’s really a difficult guy. He has this great passing ability, but he doesn’t have a super-high IQ at the same time. He really has only one way of playing. Every play, he wants to force it. I wish he’d learned how to execute better. “The thing he still needs to learn is the value of execution how important it is, when you’re in practice and at shoot around, to lock in on execution. Now he has a coach who’s as good as there is at execution.”

Giphy Images.

Giphy Images.

Advertisement

I mean….Doc isn't wrong here. Again, it's classic Doc to take a total of 0% of accountability for any of this while it was going on during his Bucks days, but that doesn't make what he's saying wrong. I get that some people might not like the optics because Doc also sucked ass as the Bucks coach, but if we're just evaluating Giannis as a player, he's right. We all know Giannis' main style of play and plan on offense is just to HB Dive every play. His default setting is to just put his head down and crash into defenders, waiting for the officials to bail him out. That's not a new concept, that's been the knock on Giannis for years. James Harden was talking about this exact shit in 2020!

Advertisement

It'd be one thing if Doc was openly lying or saying a bunch of bullshit, but all you have to do is watch Giannis for 5 seconds and you see exactly what Doc is talking about. The Heat added Giannis and they are currently 19th in offense. They were 12th last year! Don't even ask about the defense. This was another area Giannis was supposed to enhance right? Bam and Giannis were the supposed best defensive frontcourt in the NBA we were told. Well, they currently sit 26th in defense, and this is how Giannis looks on that end 

Is it maybe a little far that Doc basically called Giannis a moron? Perhaps. But I do think his overall point isn't too far off. We all see the huge numbers Giannis can put up, but how much does that actually impact winning? He's giving the Heat the same 27/12/5 he always does, but let's have a quick look at how that's working

Advertisement

Not great! While we're still in the small sample stage of the season, with the Heat 3-6 with a -6 point differential and in the bottom 3rd in both offense and defense with THAT sort of production when Giannis is ON the floor, you can understand why there may be some merit to what Doc is saying.

The good news for the Heat and their fans is there is still A LOT of basketball to be played. At the same time, if they continue to stink at what point do you start to worry about his extension come January? They put all their eggs into the Giannis basket, and if they think things are bad now, what happens if he decides to leave for nothing at the end of the year? Or, would that maybe be a blessing in disguise if the on court production and overall results continue to look like this? It's a fascinating situation, that's for sure.