JJ Redick is fed up with Doc Rivers making up excuses for all the Milwaukee Bucks‘ latest woes, and he's letting his former coach hear it.
On Tuesday's episode of ESPN's First Take, Redick criticized Rivers after he stated during All-Star Weekend that taking the Buck's head coaching position was “probably more difficult than I thought.” The Bucks hired Rivers last month after the team fired Adrian Griffin and has since posted a losing record of 3-7.
According to Redick, Rivers “making excuses” for his team's shortcomings is nothing new, and he refuses to take accountability for his own role in the issues.
“I've seen the trend for years. The trend is always making excuses,” Redick said. “We get it. Taking over a team in the middle of the season is hard. Just like getting traded in the middle of the season is hard for a player. But it's always an excuse. It's always throwing your team under the bus.”
JJ Redick calls out his former head coach Doc Rivers, who he will be replacing on ESPN/ABC's NBA Finals coverage.
"I've seen the trend for years. The trend is always making excuses. Doc, we get it. Taking over a team in the middle of a season is hard… it's always an excuse.… pic.twitter.com/NeTGnP1Suw
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 20, 2024
Redick also mentioned how he wasn't happy with Rivers' comments following the Bucks's 133-110 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies right before All-Star weekend. A depleted Grizzlies team defeated the Bucks, who had Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and the rest of their squad hit the court. In his postgame interview, Rivers stated, “We had some guys here, we had some guys in Cabo.”
Redick ridiculed Rivers for blaming the loss on his team when they were playing against “G League guys and two-way guys.” He also responded to other comments Rivers made about the Los Angeles Clippers reaching out to him before trading James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers.
“Then you look at his quotes over the weekend; now he wants to take credit for the James Harden trade to the Clippers working out?” Redick said. “He wants credit for that? There's never accountability with that guy.”
Rivers coached Redick when he played for the team from 2013 to 2017. Redick isn't the only person to criticize Rivers either, as Rasheed Wallace and Josh Smith have had some words for him in the past.
When Patrick Beverley attempted to call out Redick for his comments, he responded with, “Pat my guy I had a four year offer with player option for the same money to be a starter for a different team. FOH ‘saved my career.'”
This Man Doc actually saved your career. Started you when no one else wanted 2. And u retire go on TV and say that. @jj_redick
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) February 20, 2024
Pat my guy I had a four year offer with player option for the same money to be a starter for a different team. FOH “saved my career”. https://t.co/5lXowm2j8e
— JJ Redick (@jj_redick) February 20, 2024
This article was originally published on Complex.com.
