Bucks and Doc Rivers Part Ways After Three Seasons
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Doc Rivers will not return as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, sources told ESPN on Sunday, ending a three-year tenure that produced a 97-103 record and two first-round playoff eliminations.
The decision forces Milwaukee into its third coaching search in as many years. According to sources, the club is still expected to pay Rivers his eight-figure salary for the 2026-27 season and is discussing whether he might shift into an advisory position.
Rivers, 64, acknowledged the team’s struggles after a season-closing 136-121 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers that left the Bucks at 32-50 and out of both the postseason and the play-in tournament. “I always say I could do a better job,” he said Sunday. “All you can do is look forward.”
Team sources described a season-long disconnect between the coach and players, citing multiple incidents that irritated the locker room.
Rivers assumed the job in late January 2024 after the firing of Adrian Griffin, who had opened that season 30-13. Milwaukee finished the 2023-24 campaign 17-19 under Rivers, went 48-34 in 2024-25, and fell back this season while coping with significant injuries. Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo missed playoff time in 2024 and 2025, and Antetokounmpo was limited to 36 games in 2025-26.
A 2008 NBA champion with the Boston Celtics and a 2026 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, Rivers ranks sixth all time in regular-season coaching victories and fourth in postseason wins.
Milwaukee’s current skid snapped a run of nine consecutive playoff appearances. The franchise has not advanced past the first round since 2022, one year after winning the 2021 NBA title under Mike Budenholzer, who was dismissed in 2023.
Source: ESPN
