JJ Redick Goes Scorched Earth On Ex-Celtics Coach Doc Rivers

JJ Redick is tired of Doc Rivers not looking in the mirror when things aren’t going well for his team.

The Bucks were 30-13 on the season when they boldly decided to fire Adrian Griffin and appoint Rivers as the new head coach. Milwaukee has mostly struggled since Rivers took over, posting a 3-7 record in his first 10 games before the NBA’s All-Star break.

All the while, Rivers hasn’t taken public accountability for the Bucks’ recent slide and even puffed his chest about being consulted on the Los Angeles Clippers’ trade for James Harden. None of Rivers’ recent actions sat well with his ESPN broadcast replacement, JJ Redick, who played under the longtime coach for four seasons in LA.

“I’ve seen the trend now. I’ve seen the trend for years. The trend is always making excuses,” Redick said Tuesday on “First Take.” “We get it, Doc. Taking over a team in the middle of the season is hard. It’s hard, we get it. Just like getting traded in the middle of the season is hard for players. We get it. But it’s always an excuse. It’s always throwing your team under the bus. They lose to Memphis, it’s his players’ fault. Memphis was playing G League guys and two-way guys. You look at his quotes over the weekend, now he wants to take credit for James Harden traded to the Clippers working out. He wants credit for that. There’s never accountability with that guy. There’s never accountability.”

Despite how bad Milwaukee has looked recently, oddsmakers still believe Rivers is capable of turning things around with Giannis Antetokounmpo and company. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Bucks owned the fourth-shortest odds to win this season’s NBA Finals at FanDuel Sportsbook.