Carmelo Anthony Questions Doc Rivers for Giannis Criticism, 'Keep That S--t in the Locker Room'

Basketball Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony questioned longtime NBA head coach Doc Rivers for comments he made last week about Giannis Antetokounmpo.

In response to Rivers criticizing Giannis regarding their time together with the Milwaukee Bucks, Melo gave his take Thursday on his 7PM in Brooklyn podcast (beginning at the 41:55 mark):

"Keep that s--t in the locker room, man," Anthony said. "Because once it gets out on the podcast or whatever, Giannis hears it and then now it's going back and forth and then now you have to come back and clean it up. It's easier to hold a player accountable than it is for a player to hold a coach accountable. It's very difficult for that. Doc got to be held accountable for any part that he played in that with Giannis. Right. Because it didn't work.

"So then why didn't it work? What happened? You know, was it Giannis? Was it this? Was it a style of play? Was it fit? Was it that Dame came over? Was it you know, it's a lot of s--t that happened over there. But it's like why pinpoint that? And I understand what Doc is saying, though. I totally understand from a basketball standpoint, from a skill set standpoint. He's not saying nothing wrong, right? But just why, you know?"

Rivers appeared last week on the Bill Simmons Podcast (h/t ESPN), and he spoke openly about where he felt things went wrong during his three-season tenure as head coach of the Bucks from 2023 to 2026.

The Hall of Fame coach spoke on the difficulties involved with coaching Antetokounmpo, saying, "I liked Giannis a lot. I liked him more as a dude. He's interesting. He's not easy. He's not easy because he plays at this crazy downhill pace. He's really a difficult guy. ... He has this great passing ability, but he doesn't necessarily have this super IQ at the same time. It's really a strange thing, and he really has one way: downhill, force, force. Every play, he wants to force it."

Rivers also said that Giannis needed to learn "the value of execution," and he added that the two-time NBA MVP "needed to just give himself to the team," rather than being focused on a potential trade, which came to fruition this past offseason when he was sent to the Miami Heat.

When asked this week for his thoughts on Rivers' comments, Antetokounmpo told reporters he was "speechless," before adding, "But God, that's crazy. Never let bitterness or pettiness get in front of your goals and dreams. For every athlete out there, never let that—that's insane. But you got to go ask him why he said what he said. Not me."

Rivers told ESPN Andscape's Marc J. Spears this week that he reached out to Giannis to apologize for his comments.

Rivers continued by telling Spears, "I was saying he was one of the most interesting guys. He makes unbelievable passes, but then at times, because of his force he plays at, it gets in the way of his feel. It was more of a compliment. I hate this and feel bad about it. I apologize for the distraction. I'm not trying to be one."

Regardless of his intentions, Rivers made headlines with his comments, and the narrative now exists that he did not necessarily enjoy coaching Giannis.

The pairing clearly didn't work, as they never made it past the first round of the playoffs together, and neither of them are in Milwaukee any longer.

Giannis is now with the Heat, who are off to an up-and-down 5-6 start this season, while Rivers is out of coaching and working as an NBA analyst with NBC.