In this segment of the Draymond Green Show, Draymond Green breaks down the Milwaukee Bucks' decision to hire veteran coach Doc Rivers mid‑season. He reflects on Rivers' recent stint as an ESPN analyst, the abrupt firing of Adrian Griffin after 40 games, and the defensive woes that stem from the Bucks' recent trades of key perimeter defenders like Jrue Holiday and Grayson Allen. Green argues that blaming Griffin—or even Rivers—solely for the poor defense overlooks the personnel deficits and the challenges of integrating new defensive schemes. He also critiques Rivers' reputation as an offensive innovator rather than a defensive specialist, and comments on the financial side of the Bucks employing three coaches simultaneously, noting Rivers' age and sizable contract. Throughout, Green mixes analytical commentary with a conversational, slightly humorous tone, while a brief DraftKings ad interjects between his remarks.
Chapters
The Milwaukee Bucks has hired Glenn Doc Rivers. Legend Doc. I saw Doc, I thought Doc was loving that job with ESPN on the sideline doing some reporting, some analyst work. I thought Doc was loving that schedule. He then hopped right back in the grind. Doc, welcome back. Welcome back, champ. Adrian Griffin out. 40 games into his first season as a head coach. I thought it would be tough for Adrian Griffin at the beginning of the season. The first couple games I saw, he subbed someone in for Giannis. Giannis sent the person back to the bench like, "Ah, get outta here, man. I'm not subbing out yet." That's just not a good tone to set. Says a lot about the respect of your star player and the head coach. And so you can kind of see like, ah, that's not good.
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And then the defense isn't good. And I think, I think it's tough to blame Adrian Griffin for their defense not being good because I think it's more of a personnel thing. The reality is you traded away your best perimeter defenders. You traded away Jrue Holiday, you traded away Grayson Allen, and I'm sure I could be missing someone else that you traded away, but those two guys in particular are really good defenders and Jrue is great. So to kind of blame him And when I say him, I mean Adrian Griffin for the lack of defense. I think that's a tough thing to do. I think that's very tough to do because there are certain challenges that's presented. Like they play a lot of drops with, with Brook and Giannis. When you got Jrue chasing over, Jrue's not screenable. So when you got Jrue chasing over, then it's easier to be in a drop. But when you don't have Jrue chasing over, then that drop looks totally different. All of a sudden guys coming out dotting your eye and that's a totally different thing. And so I think it's tough to blame that on Adrian Griffin. I also think that's a tough position for Doc to come in under also because if the, if, if that comes from a lack of, or from personnel, if that's a personnel thing, What's Doc supposed to do? That's a personnel thing. And so then you're coming in expected to be the savior and essentially of the defensive unit. I've never known Doc to be the greatest defensive coach in the world. What I have known Doc is to have some offensive sets that'll have you scratching your head like, where was I supposed to be and help on that one? Coming outta time, I was dialing plays up crazier than anyone we've ever seen. That's what I've known Doc for. And so tough circumstance, I think, to come in under. And then you're also coming in on championship and bust. Quite frankly, Doc has been under that since for the last 10, 15 years of his career, championship or bust. So it's not necessarily unfamiliar territory for him, but you're also coming in mid-season and you're expected to turn that thing around like that. I think that's gonna be interesting.
Interesting.
I also think it's very interesting. Milwaukee Bucks are paying 3 coaches at once right now. But get your money, fellas. And Doc got that bag. Doc got paid. And man, how old is Doc? Doc gotta be pushing 70. Maybe early 60s. I don't wanna age Doc too fast.
By the way, he don't look—
62, 62. Okay, so early 60s. To get the money Doc just got at 62, Kali, Jeremiah, Austin, your trust funds just got better 'cause Doc just got broke off something crazy and I'm happy for you, my brother. Get to that money. And I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of this year plays out.
