With Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, Damian Lillard, and Brook Lopez all on new teams now, it seemed inevitable that the rumors around Giannis Antetokounmpo would start up again. The Milwaukee Bucks had failed to find much success in the postseason since their championship victory in 2021, which was going to make the rumor mill all the more profound. Lo and behold, that turned out to be the exact case throughout the offseason.
Trade rumors about the Greek Freak making his way off the team ran rampant. In particular, one team stood out above the rest. The New York Knicks, fresh off an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals, felt like the perfect destination for a player of his stature. However, no deal came to pass, and he remained on the Bucks. Head coach Doc Rivers is singing a different tune about that speculation.
Doc Rivers Does Not Like Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade Rumors
More than 25 years ago, Rivers became a head coach in the league with the Orlando Magic. Since then, he’s won the Coach of the Year award, been selected as one of the Top 15 coaches in NBA history, and won an NBA Championship.
However, in recent years, his reputation has taken some major hits after repeated failures with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Philadelphia 76ers. But when he joined the Bucks midway through the 2023-24 season, he had a chance to improve his stock.
Going 69-55 with two consecutive losses in the first round probably wasn’t the ideal solution for that problem as he entered this season. But a 3-1 start, with Antetokounmpo having a historic start to the year, has probably given him some leeway.
After losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the first loss of the season, the team bounced back with a victory over the Knicks. After the game, the rumors regarding their opponents were brought to his attention, but Rivers remained unmoved.
A beat reporter for the Knicks, Kristian Winfield, took to X to recount how her conversation with the veteran head coach played out. “Asked Doc Rivers about the Giannis drama and if it influences the way he’d look at this game: ‘No, I think *you* guys had a lot of drama. We were good.'”
But it wasn’t the only interaction Rivers had with the media on the subject. Soon after, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post pressed him about the validity of the trade rumors surrounding his superstar.
Unfortunately, he did not take too kindly to being pestered repeatedly on the subject. Instead, he rebuked, “I’ve already said that. I’m not gonna keep repeating it. You want me to say it again for you? I’ve said it 100 times. And we mean that.”
With Antetokounmpo’s comments, both during and after the game, alongside Rivers’s vitriol, it seems unlikely that a move will happen anytime soon. But at 3-1, with Antetokounmpo making a strong case for the MVP, it is easy to see why the duo and the Bucks, by extension, aren’t entertaining any trade discussions.
