Doc Rivers takes the blame for Bucks’ dismal start to the season

The Milwaukee Bucks have been dramatically bad to start the 2024-2025 NBA season. Last season’s No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference finished with a 49-33 record, but the Bucks are now 1-4 through five games following Thursday night’s 122-99 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

To make matters worse, aside from a win in their opener over the Joel Embiid and Paul George-less Philadelphia 76ers, they have dropped four games in a row.

After the loss, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers attempted to take the blame for “everything” of the team’s poor start, as Eric Nehm of The Athletic revealed.

“The defensive transition was still terrible tonight and that’s my responsibility,” Rivers said. “Everything is my responsibility until we get it right. We have to solve this.”

While Rivers’ attempt to take the blame is justified and something many head coaches would opt for, the Bucks’ start to the season has been nothing short of a disaster. Each of their four losses came by double digits (11, 13, 11, 23) and the most recent loss to Memphis was brutal almost across the board.

The lone bright spot in the 23-point loss to Ja Morant and the Grizzlies was Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored 37 points with 11 rebounds and four assists while shooting 17 of 22 from the field.

While Antetokounmpo did his part, the rest of the starters and most of the bench struggled to step up. Damian Lillard’s awful night was one of the main talking points as he shot 1-for-12 from the field and 0-for-6 from three-point range. He finished with just four points, six assists, two rebounds and one steal in 33 minutes.

The Bucks need to find a way to fix this or fans can expect some drastic changes in the near future.