PHILADELPHIA − Doc Rivers had been in a reflective mood over the past few weeks of the 2025-26 season, and he took that reflection a step further April 12 following the Milwaukee Bucks’ season-ending loss to the Philadelphia 76ers with an apparent goodbye news conference.
Standing in a hallway just off the Bucks locker room in Xfinity Mobile Arena − a building he coached the Philadelphia 76ers in for three seasons − Rivers spoke for nearly seven minutes about coaching in the past tense, though he did not wish to formally announce his plans for the 2026-27 season.
“No. No,” he began. “I can tell you we're all on the same page. We've talked about it, and we want it out pretty quick. I just want them to do it, it's better. But I think you guys pretty much know."
When asked what it was like to potentially have coached his last game in such a familiar place, Rivers said, “It was interesting. Knowing what I know. It was a tough one, it really was. Really proud of Darvin [Ham] because he’s been great. He’s kind of got me through all these games.”
Rivers has hinted at stepping away from coaching for several weeks, particularly after handing many of the in-game duties to Ham, his top assistant, on March 31. Rivers said before the game he would not use the word “retirement,” but the expectation among team sources conveyed to the Journal Sentinel is that he will assume an undetermined role in the organization.
Shortly after his session with the media, ESPN reported Rivers would indeed step away from coaching.
As for what a potentially different role with the Bucks would be, Rivers said April 12 he still wasn’t sure.
“We’re gonna keep talking about it, yeah,” he said. “Good organization, you know, we want to get back on the map. So, we’ll figure it out.”
“It could be a different version of the fray − or no fray,” he said. “We’ll see. This is 47 years. This is a long time. I understand that.”
As for his tenure as a whole in Milwaukee, Rivers admitted in late March that he didn’t accomplish the goal he was hired to achieve, which was take the Bucks back to the NBA Finals and win another title.
After what appeared to be his final game as the Bucks coach, he said he “enjoyed the challenge” of trying to do so.
“It didn’t go the way I wanted it to go obviously,” he said. “I always say I could do a better job, we could’ve had better health. We could’ve had all kinds of things. But, I’m not a big guy looking back. All you can do is look forward. We did a lot of things to improve a lot of the young guys. Unfortunately, that was kind of the role that presented itself for us and we did that.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Doc Rivers appears to have coached his last game for Milwaukee Bucks