The Bucks may not have had the defense to stop the Suns on Monday, but you can always count on head coach Doc Rivers to jump on the field with his shield when it comes to his teams. After the fingers were raised about his coaching history with blown 3-1 playoff leads (with the 2003 Orlando Magic and the 2015 and 2020 Los Angeles Clippers), Rivers proudly claimed that his teams sometimes overachieve. Of course, someone wasn’t having it. Rivers clearly needed a reality check, and who better to give it to him than Stephen A. Smith?
The ESPN analyst was in the mood to crush Rivers’ pride, and he did it in his signature style. Stephen A. spilled a secret conversation involving former player-turned-analyst Carlos Boozer, saying, “This is a disaster for me, personally… Carlos, Doc Rivers and I, we go back more than 25 years, man. I’ve known this man for a very, very long time. I will give him credit for the fact that this argument is consistent. It is something he has said to me directly on several occasions. And do you know what I’ve said in response, Carlos Boozer? Please don’t say that publicly.”
Smith holds Rivers in high regard, which is rare coming from him. He believes, “Doc Rivers is a champion. I think he’s a Hall of Fame coach. I do think he can coach his b— off. I truly, truly do.” He acknowledged that some players feel differently, but SAS disagrees with them, as he has seen Rivers “soak production out of them.” But there’s also something that the coach cannot run away from. “Here is what Doc Rivers cannot escape. You’ve lost more game sevens than any coach in NBA history,” the First Take host stated on the show.
Stephen A. pointed out how Doc Rivers has lost his last five Game 7s, with a 6-10 record. He specified instances like the 2003 Orlando Magic losing a 3-1 lead against the Pistons, and claimed that’s not a coaching failure. He also brought up his other losses, in 2015 when Chris Paul hit a clutch floater to beat Tim Duncan in a Game 7, and losses in 2021 and 2023, citing that it was Ben Simmons and James Harden’s poor performances in the Game 7s that handed them the loss.
He concluded his argument by telling Doc Rivers to stop making excuses by saying, “Doc Rivers is a champion, but champions don’t speak like that. Champions don’t say, no, look at how many game sevens I got you to champions.”
“Doc Rivers is a champion. But champions don’t speak like that.” @stephenasmith reacts to Doc Rivers’ comments about losing 3-1 series leads in the NBA playoffs pic.twitter.com/CwlaV88WoE
— First Take (@FirstTake) March 25, 2025
All of this came after Rivers’ bold remark to defend himself against the criticisms of his playoff losses. “I don’t get enough credit for getting the three wins. I get credit for losing,” he told Marc J. Spears. “I always say, ‘What if we had lost to Houston in six?’ No one cares. One of the things that I’m proud of is we’ve never been swept. All the coaches have been swept in the playoffs. My teams achieve. A lot of them overachieve and I’m very proud of that.”
So, Rivers basically fired back by pointing out that he doesn’t get enough credit for his teams’ wins, especially since they’ve never been swept in the playoffs and have overachieved. Rivers clearly isn’t accepting the negativity. But when it came to Monday’s 108-106 loss, he made a straight face and threw two of his players under the bus.
Doc Rivers explains Bucks’ loss by blaming two players
Just when it seemed the Bucks were out of their inconsistency zone, they recorded a loss. Despite Giannis Antetokounmpo’s double-double masterclass, they couldn’t claw back the win against Phoenix. And if you asked Doc Rivers, he had two names in mind, apart from the referees of course, that he felt cost them the game.
During the postgame press conference, he shared his thoughts on AJ Green’s mistake, which disrupted their play. “AJ kind of went too early. You knock Giannis off strike. We wanted Giannis to come up. Then he was supposed to pick Brook, and Brook was going over. It is what it is,” the HC said. So, the plan was for Giannis to come up, and then AJ was supposed to pick Brook Lopez. But Green’s early movement caused Giannis to lose his position, and naturally, the play didn’t go as planned.
But it wasn’t only the shooting guard who was at fault. When a reporter asked the coach if Gary Trent doing something differently could have turned things around for the team, Rivers immediately replied, “Stay on the body. Yeah, I think he shot the gap. Haven’t watched it, but that’s what everybody was yelling, that he got off the body, which you can’t do.” He believes Gary should have stayed closer to the Suns’ players, especially Booker. Losing contact with them turned out to be a mistake.
Nevertheless, there’s still hope for the Bucks to bounce back, and the playoffs aren’t a distant dream either. Maybe what Rivers’ former teams couldn’t do, the Bucks can– by winning a championship title this season. That would be enough for Rivers to shut the doubters. At least, more than any of his arguments could.
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