JJ Redick calls out his former coach Doc Rivers: ‘There’s never accountability with that guy’

JJ Redick doesn’t want to hear any more excuses from Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers. While appearing on ESPN’s First Take, Redick didn’t shy away from harsh criticism of his former coach, who spoke during All-Star Weekend about the difficulties of coming in midseason to take someone else’s job. Rivers was hired in late January after the Bucks fired Adrian Griffin, and since then, Milwaukee has gone just 3-7. Rivers said that taking over the Bucks job has been “probably more difficult than I thought,” but Redick was fed up with hearing the excuses.

“I’ve seen the trend for years; the trend is always making excuses,” said Redick, who played under Rivers for four years (2013-17) when they were both with the Clippers. 

“Doc, 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. We get it. But it’s always an excuse. It’s always throwing your team under the bus.”

Redick also took issue with Rivers’ comments following Milwaukee’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in their final game before the All-Star break. The Bucks lost 113-110 to a Grizzlies team that didn’t play any starters or significant role players, while Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and the rest of Milwaukee’s rotation played heavy minutes. After that loss, Rivers said, “We had some guys here, we had some guys in Cabo,” questioning his players’ effort.

“They lose to Memphis, ‘oh it’s his players’ fault,’” Redick said. “Memphis was playing G League guys and two-way guys.”

Redick ended his rant by calling out Rivers’ comments after he said the Clippers consulted him before making the blockbuster trade that landed them James Harden from 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.”

Redick played under Rivers for four years when they were both with the Los Angeles Clippers, so there’s a personal history of knowing how he is as a coach. And from the sounds of it, Redick clearly has strong opinions about how Rivers, as he views it, doesn’t take accountability when his team doesn’t live up to expectations.

One of Rivers’ current players, Patrick Beverley, took to social media to defend his coach and call out Redick. Beverley, who played for Rivers with the Clippers before reuniting with him by getting sent from the 76ers to the Bucks at the Feb. 8 trade deadline, said Rivers “saved” Redick’s career.

Despite the slow start to Rivers’ tenure in Milwaukee, there’s still time for him and the Bucks to turn things around. They are third in the Eastern Conference, but there will be a ton of pressure for him and this roster to make a deep run in the playoffs. After making three major moves in trading for Lillard, firing Mike Budenholzer to hire Griffin, and now pivoting to Rivers midseason, all eyes are on Milwaukee to see if this complicated situation will work.