Asked before Tuesday’s game against Brooklyn about how much longer he plans to stay in coaching, Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers gave a seemingly pointed answer to his near future.
“I won’t answer that, but I have grandkids that I want to see,” Rivers. “I’ll put it that way. And so, I’ll let you figure it out from there. I have seven grandkids now and they’re all 8 years and under and it kills me every time I miss Grandparents’ Day with each one of them in school. It’s probably time to go see them more, so I’ll let you figure out the rest.”
Marc Stein of TheSteinLine.com reported Sunday that the Bucks and Rivers could be trending toward either a parting or a job restructuring, such as a front-office position, and cited former Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins as a potential replacement.
Rivers, 64, will be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in August. After a 13-year playing career in the NBA, he’s in his 27th season as a head coach and his third in Milwaukee.
He won the NBA championship with the Boston Celtics in 2007-08 and has reached the playoffs 21 times. His 1,193 career regular-season wins are sixth most all time and the most among active coaches in a career that has included stops with the Orlando Magic (1999-2004), Celtics (2004-13), Los Angeles Clippers (2013-20), Philadelphia 76ers (2020-23) and Bucks (2024-26).
This year’s Bucks team (31-48) will be just the second coached by Rivers to miss the playoffs in the last 19 seasons.
Rivers has one year left on his contract. General manager Jon Horst was asked about Rivers’ future on Tuesday.
“I value his input,” Horst told The Athletic. “I don’t know the outcome; we’re gonna figure it all out. I think we’ll figure it all out pretty quickly and what that looks like going forward. (What) I don’t know yet is the answer. I think we will know, but I don’t know yet.”
