One of the biggest topics of discussion in the NBA at the moment is on new Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers and if he is right for the job. There has been a negative backlash in basketball media towards Rivers and now former player Carmelo Anthony is added to that list as he said on his show “7PM In Brooklyn” that he “never heard anybody say anything good about Doc.”

“As a player you knew Doc was going to be prepared for you, but I’ve never heard, and me and Doc have a good relationship, but I’ve never heard anybody say anything good about Doc, (meaning) a player. When you think about it, let's go back, Doc has been coaching for twenty-something years right,” Anthony said. “Look at all his players, now I’m not saying that nobody, but the narrative coming out of those experiences with Doc, nobody has nothing to say good about him. I don’t know what the issue is, I’m not in those locker rooms but I just know the narrative around that is no one has anything good to say about Doc. To his point (Bomani Jones), for years, even when Doc was leaving going to teams, no players were like supporting Doc.”

With a player like Anthony and how many years he has been in the association, it can come off as a shock to hear that he heard of no players talking highly of Rivers. Anthony has played in the NBA from 2003 all the way until 2022 and has been a part of six professional teams where he had most of his popularity with the New York Knicks from 2011-2017.

Rivers not a Hall of Fame coach per Bomani Jones on Anthony's show

Doc Rivers surrounded by piles of cash.

Also on the same show, Anthony and his co-host Kid Mero had on sports analyst Bomani Jones and claimed that the new Bucks head coach in Rivers is not a hall of fame head coach, despite having success in the league with teams like the Boston Celtics. He would say though that his “standard is so high.”

“For me, personally, I think the standard – if you go look at the coaches who are in the Hall of Fame – that standard is so high, that we throw that phrase around so much that it kind of loses something, right? Like if you want to tell me now after Spo [Erik Spoelstra] got the Heat to the Finals twice without LeBron, he’s a Hall of Fame coach, maybe. People were saying that to me when he hadn’t won 50 games without LeBron James. Just because you won two championships– like Rudy T [Tomjanovich] just got in. His two championships didn’t matter as to what it is. So to me is Doc a Hall of Fame coach? No. But that’s not because I don’t think he’s a good coach. I just got that line up there so high.”

Gilbert Arenas to Rivers: “pack your s***” from the Bucks

While Anthony didn't say specifically that he feels that Rivers is wrong for the Bucks head coaching gig, there have been former players who have criticized the move. The most popular has been arguably Gilbert Arenas who has said on numerous occasions it was the wrong road to take and even said recently for Rivers to “pack your s***” on the show NightCap with Shannon Sharpe.

“Doc’s history is he doesn’t have defense,” Arenas said. “There’s nothing in your history that says you’re very great at defense I’m sorry to point it out…The best thing for the Bucks right now is? Like, just to go into the locker room and say, ‘Hey Doc, listen. We changed our mind. We’re gonna go with that guy, that gave us the win when you wasn’t here. So, Doc, pack your s**t, and then we’re gonna go ahead and finish this season without you because, at the end of the day, we were good before you got here.'”

Arenas says Rivers underachieves with talented teams

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Arenas has cited on his own show the fact that Rivers has had talented teams in the past, but always found ways to under-achieve with them. Now entering a team like the Bucks who have two superstars in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, the microscope will be under Rivers.

“There's no positive for Doc here,” Arenas said. “If you lose, this is another team you had as a winning team, and you lost again. You win; you get no credit. The fu*k did you do?… Just another coaching job, but what I'm saying as just someone viewing the situation, if you do not win, we're gonna be looking at you because Adrian could've done the same sh*t you're gonna do. So you have to win it to get no credit. You're not getting credit for this team.”

The Bucks are currently 1-4 since Rivers has become the head coach, dropping their overall record to 33-18 which puts them third in the Eastern Conference. Their next challenge will be against the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday night.