Bucks’ Doc Rivers named coach of East for All-Star Game،
DALLAS — With his first victory as coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, Doc Rivers punched his ticket to the All-Star Game.
The Bucks' 129-117 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night earned the honor for Rivers and his staff, who will coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars against the West on Feb. 18 in Indianapolis.
It's not an accolade that Rivers, who is 1-2 since being hired by Milwaukee on Jan. 26, claims to have earned. He plans to give his All-Star ring and bonus to Adrian Griffin, who went 30-13 as coach of the Bucks before being fired and replaced by Rivers. Milwaukee went 2-1 during Joe Prunty's interim stint.
“It's ridiculously bad. It really is,” Rivers said of being voted All-Star after a win. “Well, Adrian's going to win some money, that's for sure. And a ring. It's one of those weird things. I think there should be a rule that someone other than me the fact.”
Saturday's triumph ensured that the 33-16 Bucks would have the best record in the East entering Feb. 4 games among teams with coaches eligible for All-Star duties. The Boston Celtics have the best record in the East at 37-12, but Joe Mazzulla coached in the All-Star Game last year, making him ineligible this season.
So the distinction goes to Rivers after Milwaukee rallied from a 25-point deficit to defeat Dallas.
“He’s going to coach the match?” said Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, answering a reporter's question with bemusement.
“It’s pretty funny,” said Bucks All-Star guard Damian Lillard, who had 30 points and eight assists in the victory. “It definitely wasn’t a locker room conversation.”
Antetokounmpo, who had 48 points, 10 assists and 5 steals, stressed that Milwaukee's assistant coaches deserved the honor.
“I’m really happy for them,” he said. “It was a lot of work that paid off.”
This will be Rivers' fourth All-Star appearance as a coach, having done so in 2008, 2011 and 2021. He is the fifth person to coach the All-Star Game after taking over a team in during the season, which happened most often. recently when Tyronn Lue replaced David Blatt with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2015-16 season.
“Maybe I'll send my team away and go on vacation,” said Rivers, who left his job as an ESPN analyst to join the Bucks. “I'm going to take this to Adam Silver. I think Adam is a good man. I think he'll understand.”
