Former Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers says Giannis Antetokounmpo kept "yo-yoing" by not publicly requesting a trade before ultimately being dealt to the Miami Heat this summer.
"Giannis wanted out, but he was a Buck. And he didn't want to be the bad guy," Rivers told "The Bill Simmons Podcast" in an episode posted Thursday. "He wanted [GM] Jon [Horst] and [owner] Wes [Edens] and those guys to say, 'We're trading you,' instead of him asking for a trade. To me, that was the game that was being played."
The 2025-26 season for the Bucks was largely overshadowed by Antetokounmpo's future with the franchise he led to the 2021 NBA championship. Throughout the season, Antetokounmpo told multiple outlets, including ESPN, that he was committed to the Bucks and would "never" demand a trade.
However, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania that Antetokounmpo and his agent, Alex Saratsis, had consistently informed the Bucks since May 2025 that he wanted a trade and believed it was best for both sides to part ways. That ended with the Bucks trading Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to the Heat for Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, three first-round picks, one pick swap and one second-round pick.
The Heat are off to a slow start in Antetokounmpo's first season, going 3-6 through Thursday's 120-100 loss to the Golden State Warriors. Antetokounmpo is leading the Heat in points (27.3 PPG) and rebounding (12.7 RPG).
Rivers discussed the challenges of coaching Antetokounmpo, telling Simmons he wished that Antetokounmpo had stepped up as more of a leader in Milwaukee.
"Giannis needed to just give himself to the team, not to anyone else," Rivers said.
He also addressed Antetokounmpo's style of play as a unique problem.
"I liked Giannis a lot. I liked him more as a dude," Rivers told Simmons. "He's interesting. He's not easy. He's not easy because he plays at this crazy downhill pace. He's really a difficult guy. ... He has this great passing ability, but he doesn't necessarily have this super IQ at the same time. It's really a strange thing, and he really has one way: downhill, force, force. Every play, he wants to force it."
"I wish he learned how to execute better," Rivers added. "He's one of those guys ... that have never needed to execute because they can do it on their own. But that doesn't help the team. And I told Giannis this, the thing he needs to still learn is the value of execution. How important it is when you're in practice and shootarounds to lock in on execution. And now he has a coach [Erik Spoelstra] who is as good as there is in execution."
Rivers coached the Bucks for three seasons, going 97-103 with two first-round playoff exits before Milwaukee missed the postseason entirely last season for the first time since 2015-16. The day after the 2025-26 regular-season finale, the Bucks announced that Rivers would not return as coach.
An NBA champion after coaching the Boston Celtics to the 2007-08 title, Rivers reiterated to Simmons that he has no plans to coach again. He joined NBC in September to serve as an NBA analyst.