NEW YORK – Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on April 4, was asked before his team took on the Brooklyn Nets how long he planned to continue coaching.
“Well, I won’t answer that,” Rivers said. “But, I have grandkids that I want to see. I’ll put it that way. And, so, I’ll let you figure it out from there. I have seven grandkids now. And, they’re all 8 years and under and it kills me every time I miss grandparents day with each one of them in school. And it’s probably time to go see them more. So, I’ll let you figure out the rest.”
The 64-year-old has a year remaining on a deal he signed when he took over for Adrian Griffin about halfway through the 2023-24 season.
Rivers’ statement follows a reflective moment he had before the Bucks played the Dallas Mavericks on March 31 at Fiserv Forum when asked about the team’s annual Sixth Man Soirée, which is a fundraising event for the Bucks Foundation.
“We were asked a lot of questions and you know, and this is me just over in general about the season and stuff like that, it’s been a rough season,” he said. “I keep saying that. When I was brought here two years ago, two-and-a-half years ago, I was brought in here to take the team to the next level and that just never happened. It never materialized. It doesn’t matter the why. From a coaching perspective, you feel like the city that you’re from you didn’t get the job done and that is something I carry very heavy with me.
“But having said that, this city has been phenomenal. And the support and the fans here and we didn’t say that enough last year. So, that’s pretty cool to get back here and feel that. That’s been awesome.”
Then, during the Mavericks game, Rivers handed over play-calling duties to lead assistant Darvin Ham.
“Just told him that I wanted him to do it more,” Rivers said after Ham continued to run timeouts and call plays in Houston on April 1. “He’s fantastic at it. We’re on the same page. Some of the things are stuff we run. You can see him come and check. I bet 75% of the [time] I said no, no, you go ahead and do it. It’s phenomenal for him. He’s the head coach. Darvin Ham is a head coach in the NBA and should be. I’m looking at this as trying to let the world see that.”
On March 5, Rivers’ former ESPN colleague Stephen A. Smith said on a SiriusXM radio that the Bucks’ head coach was going to hang it up after the season.
Following his team’s practice March 6, Rivers issued somewhat of a denial.
“No, I’m not getting into that,” Rivers said. “That’s something that’s; I think he feels that way, but not from me.”
Smith offered his take on Rivers’ future when he was asked if Ja Morant would be helped by being coached by the Hall of Fame finalist if he were to be acquired by the Bucks in the offseason.
“It’s not gonna be Doc Rivers because Doc Rivers is gonna retire at the end of this season,” Smith said. “Doc Rivers has been coaching for close to 25 years, this is it for him. He’s gonna step away.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers hints retirement, ‘I have grandkids.’