ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania wrote a lengthy piece detailing the “fractured relationship” between two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks last week. Then-Bucks head coach Doc Rivers proceeded to rip Charania in an interview with FanDuel’s Run It Back.
“We have a great relationship,” Rivers said about Antetokounmpo. “You know, Shams wrote an article that was so inaccurate that I don’t have the time to go into. He talked about our locker room thing, and I was laughing like, yeah, we had a tough locker room day. We lost to the Chicago Bulls with a 20-point lead! I showed clips the next day of guys who were screwing up.”
“That’s what happens in a locker room,” Rivers added. “The first thing I thought was ‘Where’s Woj (Adrian Wojnarowski)? I miss Woj so much.'”
On Monday, Rivers agreed to step down as Bucks head coach (which also led to speculation about a potential ESPN return).
And later in the day, Charania took his opportunity to fire back at the Bucks, and presumably Rivers, for questioning his credibility.
“Listen, the reality of everything in Milwaukee is this,” Charania explained on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show. “If [the Bucks] spent as much time dealing with their own internal dynamics and problems as they do responding to accurate reports, they wouldn’t be in the mess that they’re in right now. So, I’m just focused on doing the job at the highest of levels that I possibly can.”
“So, Doc leaves; you spit a bar that you’ve been thinking of saying for a long time, right now,” Pat McAfee said about the honest commentary from Charania.
“I’ve got one more for you,” Charania told McAfee. “I watch some documentaries from time to time. I saw one on Fyre Festival, right? The part we’re at now is when everyone wants to run, and you’re doing the cover-up. And again, it’s totally fine. I’m just here to document and cover it the right way. And I feel like we’ve done an unbelievable job tracking everything.”
“And at the end of the day, the last month and a half, we’ve seen it,” Charania continued. “The player in Giannis has been feuding with his own team about whether he can play or not. He wants to play. He feels he’s cleared to play. He told the NBA. He told the NBPA, the union, that he’s healthy and can play… My understanding is Giannis was told that it’s upper management’s decision not to allow him to play… The NBA is still looking into the situation.”
Antetokounmpo has been sidelined with a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise since March 15, but as Charania notes, the 2021 NBA Finals MVP has felt that he could have returned before the season ended.
Milwaukee finished the season with a highly disappointing 32-50 record.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.