MILWAUKEE — Doc Rivers wasn’t right here for the headlines. Not the hypothesis, not the subtext, and definitely not the notion that the Bucks spent their summer time worrying about Giannis Antetokounmpo’s rumored curiosity in New York.
“No, I think you guys [in New York] had a lot of drama,” Rivers stated earlier than Tuesday’s matchup in opposition to the Knicks. “We had none. That’s actual factual.”
Antetokounmpo reportedly met with Bucks normal supervisor Jon Horst in the course of the offseason and, in keeping with ESPN’s Shams Charania, stated his most popular commerce vacation spot could be the Knicks if Milwaukee had been to undergo one other early playoff exit — their fourth straight.
Pressed once more on whether or not the rumors created any distractions for his star ahead, Rivers doubled down.
“I’ve already said that. I’m not gonna keep repeating it,” he shot. “You want me to say it again for you? I’ve said it 100 times. And we mean that.”
Antetokounmpo, in the meantime, hasn’t precisely poured water on the fireplace. He’s made clear that his solely precedence is competing for championships, however his feedback left the smallest crack within the door.
“I believe in this team. I believe in my teammates. I’m here to lead this team to whatever we can go,” he stated throughout coaching camp in early October. “The second that I step in on this [FiServ Forum] courtroom, on this facility, I put on this jersey. The remaining doesn’t matter. I’m locked into no matter I’ve in entrance of me.
“Now, if in six, seven months I change my mind, that’s human, too. You’re allowed to make any decision you want. But I’m locked in. I’m locked into this team.”
Rivers’ stance hasn’t modified since his first press convention of the season — that the story lives extra within the headlines than in Milwaukee’s locker room.
“You create the story, and then you report on the story you created,” he stated on Oct. 8. “And that’s what it appears like. It will get outdated for us. However on the finish of the day, there’s nothing we will do about it.
“But I can tell you this: Jon [Horst] has never called a team about Giannis. That has never happened. Until that happens, you don’t really have a story.”
Antetokounmpo, now within the first season of a three-year, $175 million extension, holds a participant choice for 2027-28, the identical 12 months his contract would permit him to check the market once more.
The numbers, as all the time, communicate for themselves. He’s the one participant in league historical past to common no less than 30 factors, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in three consecutive seasons, and he’s on early tempo to do it once more — averaging 36 factors, 16 rebounds and 7 assists to start out the 12 months.
“Oh man, he’s a monster. He just causes everybody to pay attention to him all the time. And you can’t just do it with one guy,” Knicks head coach Mike Brown stated of Antetokounmpo. “With as talented as players are, it’s literally five guys who have to guard the basketball. That holds true more with him than anybody else just because he’s so long, smart and strong. He can finish in traffic. So you’ve got to show him bodies early.”
RIVERS TALKS THIBS
Rivers was shocked however not stunned the Knicks moved on from Tom Thibodeau after consecutive 50-win seasons and an Japanese Convention Finals journey.
“I was surprised by that, but it’s the NBA, so as a coach you learn to get over it quickly and just keep moving,” he stated forward of Tuesday’s tipoff. “That’s just what you do. We have a lot of excellent coaches in the league. Thibs was one of them and Mike’s another one. So they have another excellent coach and that’s just the way it is.”
Rivers added he can already see Mike Brown’s imprint. Form of.
“Well they’re trying to play faster, and I don’t know if they necessarily are playing faster, but they’re trying to get up more threes and they are doing that,” he stated. “And so we want to try to get them off that line.”
SIMS IN THE MIX
On Jericho Sims, whom the Knicks dealt to Milwaukee final season for Delon Wright, Rivers stated the massive man stays within the combine even with a smaller function to start out the 12 months.
“He’s been great. He may play tonight,” Rivers stated. “He’s a phenomenal defensive player, one of our guys who can switch one through five. He’ll guard anybody, rebounds the ball, runs the floor, so he’s another young kid that’s gonna keep getting better for us.”
HARD HAT, VEST & TIMBS
As for New York’s new Defensive Participant of the Sport setup, Brown credited Knicks Director of Communications Derek Lapinski for the Timbs contact on high of his authentic thought.
“We just thought that the hard hat, the vest and the Timbs — you think about New York,” stated Brown. “That’s what New York is.”
