The Milwaukee Bucks sent shockwaves through the NBA world on Tuesday when they announced they had fired head coach Adrian Griffin. Griffin was in his first season as head coach and the Bucks held a 30-13 record and the second seed in the Eastern Conference standings. The news was followed by a conflicting reports that Doc Rivers was to be Griffin's successor. It's now official, Doc Rivers is going to be the Bucks new head coach and his ESPN colleagues Doris Burke and Mike Breen gave him a sendoff on live TV.
Before Mavs-Suns, Mike Breen and Doris Burke opened up tonight's ESPN broadcast wishing Doc Rivers the best of luck as the new head coach of the Bucks 🙌pic.twitter.com/oLX8TBMNua
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 25, 2024
During the pregame segment ahead of the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns game on Wednesday, Mike Breen and Doris Burke likened Rivers' absence to a team's injury report. Breen said, “For ABC/ESPN, Doc Rivers is out. Our dear friend has decided that life as an NBA broadcaster is way too stressful, so he's decided to opt for a less stressful job; an NBA head coach.”




Breen went on to mention that although they are heartbroken over Doc Rivers' departure for the Bucks, that they are thrilled for him and wish him the best of luck. Burke couldn't help but get emotional when speaking about her former colleague.
“Doc just brought unbelievable energy every single day. He was positive, he through himself into what we were trying to do,” Burke said. “But the question is no longer what he can do for you and I, Mike, it's what he can do for a 30-win Bucks team.”
Rivers was last coach of the Philadelphia 76ers before they let him go last offseason. As the head coach of the Boston Celtics in 2008, he brought the franchise it's first championship since the Larry Bird years.