Doc Rivers Calls Out Giannis Antetokounmpo: 'Doesn't Have High IQ'

Doc Rivers was a successful coach—at times—during a long career in the NBA. But perhaps what he's been best known for over the years is blowing 3-1 playoff series leads, and putting his foot in his mouth to alienate players. The most extreme case of that came with Ben Simmons. Rivers caused a chain of events with his comments about Simmons in 2021 that drove the player out of town, and, in a long chain of events, more or less ruined his career.

Now Rivers has come out, tongue ablazing, on Giannis Antetokounmpo, whom he coached with the Milwaukee Bucks in recent years, essentially calling him a low-IQ player.  

Doc Rivers says Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn’t have a super-high IQ and that he was NOT easy to coach “He’s not easy. He plays at this crazy downhill pace. He’s really a difficult guy. He has this great passing ability, but he doesn’t have a super-high IQ at the same time. He… https://t.co/HuihMzwO1x

— bballunlocked (@bballunlocked) November 6, 2026

 “He’s not easy (to coach). He plays at this crazy downhill pace. He’s really a difficult guy. He has this great passing ability, but he doesn’t have a super-high IQ at the same time. He really has only one way of playing. Every play, he wants to force it. I wish he’d learned how to execute better.”

Giannis "executed" pretty well in 2021, winning an NBA title for the Bucks under head coach Mike Budenholzer, and was a two-time MVP. He just couldn't execute well under Rivers.

Antetokounmpo is doing his thing with the Miami Heat now, and is averaging 27.3 points per game and 12.7 rebounds over the first nine games, though the Heat are just 3-6.

In his three years coaching the Bucks, Rivers took the team to the playoffs twice, and went 3-8 for a playoff win percentage of 27.3%, losing in the first round both times. Is this latest Rivers running of the mouth another example of Doc looking to pin the blame for his failures on a player?

Let us know in the comments.