Doc Rivers is offering new insight into Giannis Antetokounmpo's departure from Milwaukee, saying the star forward wanted out of Milwaukee but was determined not to be seen as the one forcing the move. "Giannis wanted out, but he was a Buck. And he didn't want to be the bad guy," Rivers said on "The Bill Simmons Podcast" in an episode posted Thursday.
Rivers, who coached the Bucks for three seasons, said Antetokounmpo preferred that general manager Jon Horst and owner Wes Edens be the ones to announce the trade rather than having the request come from him publicly. "To me, that was the game that was being played," Rivers said, describing the back and forth as Antetokounmpo "yo-yoing" on a public trade demand.
The 2025-26 season in Milwaukee was dominated by questions about the future of the player who led the franchise to the 2021 NBA championship. Throughout the year, Antetokounmpo repeatedly told outlets, including ESPN, that he remained committed to the Bucks and would "never" demand a trade.
Behind the scenes, however, the message was different. Sources told ESPN's Shams Charania that Antetokounmpo and his agent, Alex Saratsis, had consistently informed the Bucks since May 2025 that he wanted to be traded and believed a split was best for both sides.
The situation resolved over the summer when Milwaukee sent Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to the Miami Heat in exchange for Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, three first-round picks, one pick swap and one second-round pick.
The early returns in Miami have been uneven. The Heat are 3-6 through Thursday's 120-100 loss to the Golden State Warriors, though Antetokounmpo leads the team in both scoring at 27.3 points per game and rebounding at 12.7 per game.
Rivers also spoke candidly about the difficulty of coaching Antetokounmpo, saying he wished the two-time MVP had embraced a larger leadership role. "Giannis needed to just give himself to the team, not to anyone else," Rivers said.
On the court, Rivers described Antetokounmpo's relentless downhill style as both a gift and a challenge. "He's really a difficult guy.. He has this great passing ability, but he doesn't necessarily have this super IQ at the same time," Rivers said. "Every play, he wants to force it." He added that Antetokounmpo still needs to learn "the value of execution," noting that the forward now plays for Erik Spoelstra, whom Rivers called as good as there is in that area.
Rivers went 97-103 in Milwaukee with two first-round playoff exits before the Bucks missed the postseason last season for the first time since 2015-16. The team announced the day after the regular-season finale that he would not return. Rivers, who won a title coaching the Boston Celtics in 2007-08, told Simmons he has no plans to coach again. He joined NBC in September as an NBA analyst.
