Milwaukee, WI
Bucks’ Doc Rivers Lands Outside the Top 20 of CBS Sports’ Coaching Rankings for the 2024-25 Season
MILWAUKEE — When the Milwaukee Bucks hired Doc Rivers to replace Adrian Griffin as head coach in the middle of the 2023-24 season, they believed they were making an upgrade.
Instead, the Bucks staggered through the rest of the regular season, winning 17 of their 36 games under Rivers. And in the playoffs, with superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined by injury, the Milwaukee again lost in the first round.
In advance of the 2024-25 NBA season, CBS Sports has ranked the league’s 30 coaches. Rivers is No. 22.
The report by CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn groups Rivers with Portland’s Chauncey Billups, Chicago’s Billy Donovan, and Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff. The verdict on Rivers is harsh.
CBS Sports’ Top 30 coaches in the NBA:
1. Erik Spoelstra, Heat
2. Nick Nurse, 76ers
3. Rick Carlisle, Pacers
4. Steve Kerr, Warriors
5. Ty Lue, Clippers
6. Mark Daigneault, Thunder
7. Will Hardy, Jazz
8. Ime Udoka, Rockets
9. Mike Budenholzer, Suns
10. Tom Thibodeau, Knicks
11.… pic.twitter.com/72aRr50PBz— TheBucksZone (@TheBucksZone) September 16, 2024
“Doc Rivers had Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. He had Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. He had Joel Embiid and James Harden. He never reached the conference finals with any of them. It’s been a long time since 2008 (the NBA title in Boston). His players clearly like playing for him, and he is perhaps the best job interviewer among current coaches. Owners love him. That’s probably how he keeps getting these premium jobs. But he also keeps blowing playoff leads, over-relying on name-brand veterans, punting on offensive rebounds and running predictable offenses. Hiring Doc Rivers looks better in a press release than employing Doc Rivers tends to actually work out on the court.”
– Sam Quinn, CBS Sports
To rank each coach, CBS used these factors:
In 25 seasons, Doc has coached his share of superstars to little glory. In 20 postseasons, his teams have won two conference titles and one NBA championship. He currently holds the NBA record for most losses in Game 7s — 10 — and his teams have blown three 3-1 series leads.
In his two positions before Milwaukee — with the Los Angeles Clippers (2013-2020) and Philadelphia 76ers (2020-2023) — he couldn’t get either team beyond the second round of the playoffs.
Those most recent failures likely colored the CBS rankings, even though Rivers ranks eighth all-time in wins and has been recognized by the NBA as one of the league’s 15 greatest coaches.
But if all goes according to plan, Rivers and the Bucks should get another postseason opportunity in 2025.