Former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick is tired of Doc Rivers’ excuses. The First Take host went off on his former coach Tuesday morning, saying how he’s “seen the trend for years.
“The trend is always making excuses,” the former Duke star said. “Doc, we get it. Taking over a team in the middle of a season is hard… it’s always an excuse. It’s always throwing your team under the bus… there’s never accountability with that guy.”
Doc should have been called out a long time ago, but for some reason, the veteran coach continues to get a pass. The fact he was brought in to take the wheel in Milwaukee is mind-boggling. While some would disagree with Redick — Pat Bev being one — he hit the nail on the head. We’ve seen Rivers fail for years with more talent than any other head coach in the Association usually has.
At the end of the clip, Stephen A. Smith says if it doesn’t work in Milwaukee, Doc’s coaching journey in the NBA could be over. Surely, most of us thought that, after Rivers failed to propel the 76ers any further than they’d been in the previous three years before his arrival. What did he really accomplish in the grand scheme that Brett Brown didn’t?
But, to say this is Doc’s last chance seems premature seeing how many chances he’s had over the years. He started with the Orlando Magic. Then he had his stints with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers, before moving on to Philadelphia. And despite being away from the sidelines, the Bucks brought him in as Adrian Griffin’s replacement, despite the team having a 30-13 record at the time.
And throughout his stops, Rivers has coached superstars including Tracy McGrady, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey. Now he’s got Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. Some guys have all the luck.
But despite all those names, Rivers only has one ring to show for any of it.
One is better than none but even those coaches who have won would sell organs to have been able to coach all those heavy hitters. Those are only the stars listed above, but guys like Redick and Pat Bev were also integral parts of Rivers’ teams. Redick wasn’t wrong about anything he said even if Smith and Shannon Sharpe didn’t want to acknowledge it.
However, while listening to Redick’s tirade about Doc, you just knew someone was going to come to Rivers’ defense. It didn’t take long either as Beverley took to Twitter to respond to Redick’s rhetoric. In just a few words, Beverley went for Redick’s heartstrings mentioning how Rivers once saved the former Blue Devils star’s 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”
Whether Rivers actually saved Redick’s career is irrelevant. This didn’t sound like something Redick just said for effect. It felt like this was something he’d subscribed to for some time. The fact that he let it all out on live television is him doing his job. Redick is not the first analyst to criticize Rivers and won’t be the last.
Obviously, Pat Bev felt some type of way about the comments so now we’ve got former teammates going at it via social media. With both having their own podcast platforms, this one could go on for at least the rest of the week. It’s hard to disagree with Redick and Beverley didn’t necessarily say otherwise, he just didn’t feel JJ was in the position to throw stones at Doc. Another juicy sports media beef.
