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.