Doc Rivers to step down
The Athletic reported that Bucks coach Doc Rivers will step down after a 32-50 season. (nytimes.com) The move was framed as an early coaching consequence of the regular-season finish. (nytimes.com)
Doc Rivers is stepping down as Milwaukee Bucks coach after the team finished 32-50 and missed the postseason. (espn.com) ESPN reported Sunday, April 12, that Rivers is leaving the job after three seasons, and the sides are discussing whether he could stay with the franchise in an advisory role. (espn.com) Milwaukee closed the 2025-26 regular season with a 126-106 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers and finished 11th in the Eastern Conference at 32-50. (usatoday.com) (nba.com) The Bucks are now headed for their third coaching search in three years. Rivers replaced Adrian Griffin in January 2024 after Griffin opened that season 30-13. (espn.com) (sports.yahoo.com) The change lands after Milwaukee failed to win a playoff series in 2023, 2024, or 2025, despite winning the National Basketball Association title in 2021 under Mike Budenholzer. (espn.com) This season also ended a run of nine straight playoff appearances for Milwaukee. The Bucks had clinched a ninth consecutive berth in April 2025, then fell out of the top 10 entirely a year later. (foxsports.com) (nba.com) Rivers went 97-103 across his Bucks tenure, including a 48-34 season in 2024-25 and a 17-19 finish after taking over midseason in 2023-24. ESPN’s coaching records list him at 31-49 this season through 80 games, with Milwaukee’s final two losses bringing the team to 32-50. (sports.yahoo.com) (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2) Rivers, 64, leaves one week after he was announced as part of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026. The Bucks now head into the offseason with a coaching vacancy and more questions around a roster that finished 28 games behind Detroit in the Central Division. (nbcsports.com) (espn.com)
