Giannis: Doc Rivers Brought 'Peace of Mind' as Bucks HC After Adrian Griffin's Firing

Despite the Milwaukee Bucks' early struggles under new head coach Doc Rivers, star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo believes he brings something to the table that former head coach Adrian Griffin didn't.

"Some peace of mind," Antetokounmpo told The Athletic's Eric Nehm when asked what the arrival of Rivers did for the Bucks. "He's tough. He's Doc f—ing Rivers. He knows his s—. Same thing for Coach Bud. Same with Joe Prunty, J-Kidd. And Coach Griff was a great coach, a great person to work with, but, at the end of the day, it was his first time."

After being hired as head coach in June to replace Mike Budenholzer, Griffin was fired by the Bucks in January despite leading the team to a 30-13 start to the season.

"He was figuring things out, how to lead a group of guys, how to operate with star players and sometimes, that might be hard. I think everybody did a good job. His coaching staff did a good job too, helping him and making him adjust and I think he did a tremendous job leading us to a 30-13 record, but Coach Doc has won 1,100 games. So it's totally different."

After winning two out of its first three games without Griffin, Milwaukee has regressed under Rivers, going 3-7 since he took over and falling to third in the Eastern Conference with a 35-21 record entering the All-Star break.

Rivers' recent comments haven't helped matters, as he said during an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio's The Starting Lineup with Frank Isola and Ryan McDonough that he didn't understand why the Bucks fired Griffin.

Still, Antetokounmpo believes Rivers has a resume that allows him to not have to act as both player and coach.

"Now it's almost like I don't have to do that anymore," Antetokounmpo said of the extra emphasis he had put on leadership under Griffin. "I just have to keep the guys together and try to go out there and try to win. Coach Doc, he's a great guy, been in the league for a lot of years, won a lot of games. Like you go to bed, you sleep well at night. Win or lose, you know that the coaching staff is going to be prepared. And not just him, from Rex (Kalamian), from Dave Joerger, like come on, man, Joe Prunty, we have guys that are extremely smart and know the game of basketball. So, from that aspect, you don't have to worry anymore."

The Bucks will play their first game after the All-Star break on Friday when they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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