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Doc Rivers\u2019 latest comments may have just signaled a major offseason shift for the Bucks, now all eyes turn to what comes next.<\/p>\n
Now that the dust has settled a bit, Doc Rivers is providing some insight<\/a> into his departure from the Milwaukee Bucks, along with his future in the NBA.<\/p>\n Despite some speculation that he was forced out by the organization, Rivers is emphasizing that the decision to walk away from the sideline was entirely his.<\/p>\n Doc Rivers Says Leaving the Bucks was \u2018100%\u2019 His Decision<\/p>\n Rivers also said that the decision wasn\u2019t a particularly difficult one and wasn\u2019t the result of the underwhelming nature of the 2025-26 season for Milwaukee.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a hard decision. It\u2019s probably on your mind your last couple years,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cIt had nothing to do with the season or anything like that. There\u2019s times where you feel like you\u2019ve had your run. \u2026 This was my decision. It was 100 percent my decision.\u201d<\/p>\n While Rivers is content with his decision to walk away, he does have some regrets about the way he handled his exit from the Bucks after three seasons. Namely, he wishes he was more forthcoming about his plans with his players.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Bucks [ownership and executives] knew because obviously we had told them,\u201d Rivers said. \u201c\u2026 I didn\u2019t want to tell the players anything, and I probably should have. After the game, I should have said something. As I always say, \u2018You don\u2019t get everything right.\u2019 I didn\u2019t go in the locker room after we won the title [in Boston]. You make decisions. I may be the only coach in the history of sports that did not go into the locker room after you win the NBA title. When you see all the champagne, there\u2019s no me in there.\u201d<\/p>\n Doc Rivers Acknowledges That His Coaching Days Are Likely Behind Him<\/p>\n Rivers has been on the sideline as a head coach in the NBA for a quarter-century straight. He held the position with the Orlando Magic<\/a>, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers and most recently, Milwaukee. He won a championship, was named Coach of the Year and was also named one of the Top 15 coaches in NBA history.<\/p>\n After all of that, Rivers might finally be ready to call it a career when it comes to coaching, though he hopes to still be involved with the game in some to-be-determined capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it\u2019s very possible,\u201d Rivers said when asked when his coaching days were behind him. \u201c\u2026 I still love it. I still love coaching. But I don\u2019t ever want my job to become work. I guess that is the best way of saying that. It\u2019s more of a labor of love. So, I just felt like it was time. It was not like some lightning strike or something like that. I told ownership that a while ago. \u2026 I still want to be in the game and do something. I don\u2019t even know where that goes. But I just thought it was time.\u201d<\/p>\n Rivers has given a lot to the game, both as a player and then as a coach. So, he\u2019s certainly earned his retirement, though it will be strange not to see him pacing the sideline in a coaching capacity next season.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMichael Kaskey-Blomain<\/a> Michael Kaskey-Blomain is an experienced sports media member covering the NBA and NFL for Heavy. He has been in the industry for well over a decade with previous stops including the Philadelphia Inquirer and CBS Sports. Michael also serves as a Philadelphia 76ers reporter and insider for ESPN 97.3 and an NBA and NFL contributor for The Sporting News. More about Michael Kaskey-Blomain<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Bucks\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Doc Rivers\u2019 latest comments may have just signaled a major offseason shift for the Bucks, now all…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3775],"tags":[7,103,102,121,3871,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-715392","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-milwaukee-bucks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bucks","10":"tag-milwaukee","11":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","12":"tag-milwaukeebucks","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116444573152918365","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715392","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=715392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}