{"id":698213,"date":"2026-04-04T18:16:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T18:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/698213\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T18:16:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T18:16:28","slug":"bucks-doc-rivers-voices-frustration-over-giannis-antetokounmpo-nba-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/698213\/","title":{"rendered":"Bucks’ Doc Rivers Voices Frustration Over Giannis Antetokounmpo NBA Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> are navigating a difficult stretch late in the season with the playoffs already out of reach and all of the attention placed on franchise player Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, his future, and his present within the organization.<\/p>\n

A 133-101 loss to the Boston Celtics<\/a> on Friday marked yet another low for the Bucks, but the main talking topic was Antetokounmpo’s absence from the game.<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo has now missed 10 straight games, despite publicly stating<\/a> that he is healthy and available to return to action.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m available to play, but I\u2019m not in the game,\u201d Antetokounmpo said before Friday’s game. \u201cI\u2019m available to play today. Right now. I\u2019m available. Do I look like I\u2019m not available? \u2026 I don\u2019t see myself in the first 12. I don\u2019t see myself in the starting lineup. I don\u2019t know what game is being played right here, I just don\u2019t wanna be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Milwaukee<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.Benny Sieu-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

(Benny Sieu-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

The situation escalated as the National Basketball Association launched an investigation<\/a> into the Bucks \u201cfor their handling of the player participation policy and potential inconsistent statements regarding the health of Giannis Antetokounmpo,\u201d according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.<\/p>\n

Head coach Doc Rivers<\/a>addressed<\/a> the situation after the loss to Boston, expressing his frustration with how the situation has unfolded publicly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tough part about all this is that I\u2019m in the middle and I have nothing to do with it,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cCoaches don\u2019t decide any of this. The problem with our league is the coaches are the ones sitting out front. And we have to sit here and answer this stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivers also pushed back against how the situation has played out in the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a grown man\u2019s game and it should be handled that way,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cI don\u2019t like when it\u2019s this he said, she said stuff\u2026 We need to do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bucks have five games left in the schedule, starting by hosting the Memphis Grizzlies<\/a> on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

Related: Can Kon Knueppel Beat Cooper Flagg in Rookie of the Year Race? ESPN Poll Answers It<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Can Victor Wembanyama Overtake SGA for NBA MVP? Here’s What ESPN Poll Says<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Apr 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the Other Sports<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Milwaukee Bucks are navigating a difficult stretch late in the season with the playoffs already out of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,3798,46,2660,123,177,121,1407,6,361],"class_list":{"0":"post-698213","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-bostonceltics","12":"tag-celtics","13":"tag-doc-rivers","14":"tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","15":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","16":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","17":"tag-national-basketball-association","18":"tag-nba","19":"tag-the-bucks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116347810899912166","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=698213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=698213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=698213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=698213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}