As Doc Rivers departs the Milwaukee Bucks following a tumultuous fifth stint as an NBA head coach, his former employer is in dire need of some help on its NBA commentary bench.
ESPN just lost Michael Malone to North Carolina, leaving a hole in its No. 3 broadcast team on the eve of the postseason that will seemingly be filled by college basketball expert Jay Bilas. It was just the latest shuffle as ESPN has watched JJ Redick, Bob Myers, Michael Grady, Hubie Brown, and Mark Jones all leave in the past two years.
But according to both Front Office Sports and The Athletic, Rivers is not expected to replenish the network’s roster by returning to the seat he vacated in early 2024.
Rivers has often done media work between head-coaching jobs, and is always incredibly transparent, offering opinions about his career and rival teams. The former NBA journeyman point guard called the 2004 Finals for ABC, and was on track to do so again two decades later before taking the Milwaukee job. ESPN saw Rivers as its long-term solution in the broadcast booth to replace Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, and clearly felt that Rivers would not go back to the coaching bench.
After Rivers left, many media reporters suggested ESPN was miffed that Rivers went back on his pledge. Still, one would think ESPN could have fought through those hard feelings if it wanted Rivers back.
However, the network has since pivoted to Richard Jefferson and Tim Legler as its top game analysts, alongside announcer Mike Breen. In the No. 2 booth, Rivers’ old broadcast partner Doris Burke is working with Dave Pasch. So despite ESPN’s clear need for depth on its roster, there isn’t much space for a new top analyst like Rivers.
Maybe by next season, ESPN could reconsider bringing Rivers back in. But even into his 60s, Rivers has demonstrated that he still has the coaching itch. Having been burned once already, the Worldwide Leader would seemingly rather look elsewhere to solve its perpetual NBA broadcasting questions.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.