‘He doesn’t necessarily have a super-high IQ’: Doc Rivers slams Giannis Antetokounmpo

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectFormer Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers officially stepped down as head coach in April after a long NBA tenure. Shortly after, longtime Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was traded to the Miami Heat to embark on the back half of his career.Already nine games into the regular season, the Heat hold a 3-6 record as Antetokounmpo averages 27.3 points per game, 12.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists to lead the team in both points and rebounds, a role he is very familiar with. But even as part of a new team and new system, it looks like we’re seeing a repeat of the days in Milwaukee, with the G-man putting on a show and the team struggling to execute.Recently, Rivers sat with Bill Simmons on The Bill Simmons Podcast to address some of his grievances with Antetokounmpo and the highs and lows of coaching during their time in Milwaukee.“He’s not easy. Because he plays at this crazy downhill pace. He’s really a difficult guy,” Rivers said in a clip shared by Ahmed/The Ears on X. “He has this great passing ability, but he doesn’t necessarily have a super-high IQ at the same time. It’s really a strange thing, and he really has only one way: downhill, force, force. Every play, he wants to force it.”“I wish he’d learned how to execute better. He’s one of those guys you get a lot of them from the US, AAU guys that have never needed to execute because they can do it on their own. But that doesn’t help the team,” Rivers continued.“The thing he needs to still learn is the value of execution, how important it is, when you’re in practice and at shootaround, to lock in on execution. Now he has a coach who’s as good as there is in execution,” he added.Simmons interjected, giving the Greek Freak the benefit of the doubt for being one of the most athletically talented players remaining in the NBA; sometimes being aggressive works.“Yeah, but that’s good for him, and what a lot of players don’t understand is, ‘Yeah, I don’t need that, I can do that.’ Yeah, you can, but for the team to work, you have to learn how to execute,” Rivers added.Rivers was officially inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in August, and since stepping down from coaching has taken up a role with NBC Sports as an NBA game analyst for the 2026-27 season. With the season just beginning, Antetokounmpo has plenty of time to get adjusted to Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra’s methods, as he is not shy about execution or winning.The post ‘He doesn’t necessarily have a super-high IQ’: Doc Rivers slams Giannis Antetokounmpo appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions.