With the recent news that under-fire Doc Rivers has left his role as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, it truly comes to light the internal troubles within the organization. This is unsurprising after a catastrophically bad season, not least due to the team’s deteriorating situation with Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Still, one bizarre story that broke was regarding Rivers’ interesting attempt at a team talk, which continues to make headlines.
Myles Turner Sets The Record Straight Regarding Bombshell Doc Rivers Article From ESPN, Which Rivers Denied
This was brought up again on Bucks center, Myles Turner’s podcast with Breanna Stewart, “Game Recognize Game.”
ESPN insider Shams Charania broke a bombshell article on April 7, going in depth on the fracture that was going on within the Bucks locker room. Including after a 45-point loss to the equally lottery-bound Brooklyn Nets, Bucks vocal leader Bobby Portis blew up at the team’s lack of urgency.
Antetokounmpo had serious doubts about the roster and submitted a trade request, but, much to his disappointment, they refused to trade him and sat him out once the team was eliminated from postseason contention.
Yet the major story that made the headlines from this article was the reported bizarre attempt from Rivers to rally his team after a recent blowout to the Chicago Bulls. It was reported that he attempted to convince the players of his resumé. The soon-to-be Hall of Fame Head Coach reportedly implored his team to Google his name. This attempt at a rallying cry fell completely flat.
Since then, Rivers denied this incident and exclaimed in an interview, “Shams wrote an article that was so inaccurate I don’t have enough time to go into… Where’s Woj? I miss Woj so much (previous ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski).” Charania has since stood by his sources and reporting as 100% accurate.
Despite Rivers’ denial, the Bucks center has set the record straight on his podcast, and it backs up Charania’s account. He also made it clear he wasn’t the locker-room snitch.
“A lot of stuff in that ESPN article came out. Like it was very accurate.” Turner recalls. “A lot of stuff that was said was to the T.” Furthermore, he discussed ‘Google-gait’ and how it truly went down within the locker room: “Doc came in and was like, listen, I heard y’all been talking sh**, so let me talk my sh** too! I’ve taken teams a lot less talented than this to the playoffs.”
Turner then explained that Rivers’ speech simply didn’t land as intended. “In a room full of ego, he came in with the whole ‘Google me’ thing. and I don’t think it went over as well as he might have thought.”
Myles was NOT the snitch!!
He weighs in on the recent Doc Rivers “Google Me” locker room comment and article that was just released…
Watch the new episode of Game Recognize Game with Stewie and Myles here👇🏼https://t.co/cYjwPSgECQ@breannastewart @Original_Turner pic.twitter.com/NYyy5equww
— Game Recognize Game (@gamerecgamepod) April 15, 2026
With Turner setting the record straight from within the locker room, it’s therefore disappointing that Rivers chose to attack Charania’s integrity. Rivers could simply have been honest and said that particular speech didn’t land as intended, rather than offering flat denials. It’s a bad look to attack a reporter’s credibility, and it’s even worse to force a player to contradict Rivers.
It’s fair to say the Bucks are in a bit of a mess, and it is best that both sides have parted. Nevertheless, Rivers is headed to a Hall of Fame induction, while the Bucks are headed to the lottery with the Antetokounmpo situation expected to come to a head this summer.
