Although Doc Rivers hasn't lost confidence, the Milwaukee Bucks have gotten off to a rough start to the 2024-25 NBA season, as the team currently sits at 1-6 following Monday evening's road loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The loss marked the second straight defeat Milwaukee took against Cleveland, and although the team had the excuse of Giannis Antetokounmpo not being in the lineup this time, the Bucks have wasted no time in getting behind the eight ball this season.
One person who is not happy with what he's seen from the Bucks since Doc Rivers took over as head coach midway through last season is former Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas, who recently took to the Gil's Arena Show podcast to relay his thoughts.
“The last 43 games of this man’s coaching, they are ranked 25th with this record,” said Arenas. “25th in the NBA since Doc got there. This goes back to last year they’re ranked 25th. They could’ve coached themselves to be 19 – 23. I’m not spending $40 million dollars on it. $40 million dollars to be 19 – 23 with them playing.”
Gilbert then went on to reference the team's relative success under previous head coach Adrian Griffin before he was shockingly fired.
“Whatever your excuse is, they don’t get along, they can’t play… 30 – 13 fired that coach and then since then 19 – 23. So in the first 43 games 30 – 13, since Doc’s 43 games, 19 – 23,” said Arenas.
Can the Bucks save their season?
Of course, the calendar is just now flipping over into November and the Bucks still have well over 80 percent of their season left to play, so it's far too early to hit the panic button just yet.
Still, the Bucks can't be happy to have only won one playoff series since hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy in 2021, and with Giannis Antetokounmpo a month away from turning 30 years old, the pressure could be mounting on the team to figure this out before he potentially requests a trade to maximize the remaining years of his prime.
For his part, Antetokounmpo has been brilliant when he's been in the lineup for the Bucks this year, but the Milwaukee supporting cast has largely let him down. Damian Lillard has put together two virtuoso performances in the losses against Cleveland, so there's hope that once Antetokounmpo returns, the duo will finally be able to look like the diet Kobe and Shaq they were touted to be heading into last season.
In any case, the Bucks will next hit the floor on Thursday at home vs the Utah Jazz.
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