NBA Players Vote Knicks' Thibodeau, Bucks' Rivers as HC They'd Least Want to Play For

Doc Rivers and Tom Thibodeau have more than 1,600 combined wins at the NBA level, but it appears they don't have the admiration of NBA players.

Thibodeau and Rivers were voted as the NBA coaches players least want to play for, according to a poll conducted by The Athletic. This is the second straight year Thibodeau has earned the most votes, with 46.8 percent of respondents choosing the New York Knicks coach.

Rivers was a distant second at 9.1 percent.

Most of the players who criticized Thibodeau highlighted the workload he puts on players.

"I'm too old for those practices," one player said.

While Thibodeau does go deeper in his bench than in years past, his reputation for playing his stars extended minutes has clearly impacted player attitudes.

It's hard to argue with Thibodeau's success in the regular season. He's posted only three losing seasons in 12 years as an NBA head coach and has regularly been able to prop up undermanned rosters with his schemes—particularly on the defensive end.

Rivers is the eighth-winningest coach in NBA history but has been defined by playoff failures since winning the 2008 championship with the Boston Celtics. Former NBA guard JJ Redick, who played for Rivers with the Clippers, also recently blasted the coach for throwing players under the bus and not taking accountability for his shortcomings.