Doc Rivers Sends Giannis Antetokounmpo Apology After 'Basketball IQ’ Remark

Doc Rivers apologises to Giannis Antetokounmpo over his controversial remarks.© NDTV GALLERY

Doc Rivers has sent Giannis Antetokounmpo a personal apology after questioning the Miami Heat star's basketball IQ on The Bill Simmons Podcast. In a text to his former Milwaukee Bucks player, Rivers said he had meant to talk about Antetokounmpo's feel for the game, not his intelligence. ESPN insider Marc Spears revealed the apology on NBA Today after Antetokounmpo publicly responded to the criticism following Miami's 114-108 win over Sacramento. The remarks had raised questions about Rivers' assessment of a player he coached in Milwaukee.

Doc Rivers Says He Meant Giannis Antetokounmpo's Feel For The Game

The wording, Rivers acknowledged, was a mistake. On NBA Today, Spears said the coach regretted bringing a player's intelligence into the discussion.

“The feel for the game was something he wanted to talk about, not the IQ. He said he felt really bad about even mentioning somebody's IQ in any capacity and apologised for that in the text,” Spears said.

Rivers made the original comments on The Bill Simmons Podcast. He praised Antetokounmpo's passing but questioned his decision-making and ability to execute within a structured offence.

“He has this great passing ability, but he doesn't necessarily have this super IQ at the same time,” Rivers said.

Calling Antetokounmpo difficult to coach, Rivers said, was not meant as an insult. “Superstars are tough to coach, you know. LeBron's tough to coach, Luka's tough to coach,” he told Spears.

Rivers said he wanted to create more spacing for Antetokounmpo. The forward's instinct to attack downhill, he explained, could make that difficult. He also said the force with which Antetokounmpo plays can sometimes get in the way of his feel for the game.

Giannis Antetokounmpo Responds To Doc Rivers' Comments

After Miami beat Sacramento, Antetokounmpo was asked about his former coach's assessment. He left the explanation to Rivers.

“You have his number, right? You do. I know you do. You gotta go ask him why he thought that; that's on him, that's not on me,” Antetokounmpo told reporters.

Rivers coached Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee for parts of three seasons before leaving the Bucks at the end of last season. In his conversation with Andscape, he said his comments about the difficulty of coaching a superstar were meant as a compliment.

The apology addressed the word Rivers regretted using. Spears reported that Antetokounmpo responded positively to the text.