Doc made his first house call.
Doc Rivers, named Friday as head coach of the Bucks, already had his first team meeting, although he won’t coach his first game for Milwaukee until Monday.
Rivers, who replaced Adrian Griffin just 43 games into the season, talked with his players Friday morning after shootaround.
His message to the Bucks was clear, according to guard Pat Connaughton.
“He said a few sentences and they were powerful,” Connaughton said, according to CBS Sports. “He talked about just being able to have that identity that we should have as the Milwaukee Bucks. He talked about the talent we have on the team, teams should be a little bit more afraid to play us.”
Rivers has already received rave reviews from forward Jae Crowder, calling his new coach “a big uncle.”
Added forward Bobby Portis, “he’s on board with us and knows that the expectations of this team are really high. I think he’s ready for it.”
Rivers inherits a team with NBA title aspirations and a roster built around two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee added seven-time All-Star Damian Lillard in the offseason with the hopes of winning the team’s second championship since 2021.
Griffin led the Bucks to a 30-13 record, which was good for second place in the Eastern Conference.
But it wasn’t good enough for the Bucks’ front office with the team suffering from defensive lapses amid reported locker room tension.
So Milwaukee will go with Rivers, who was fired by the Philadelphia 76ers in May after losing in the second round of the playoffs for the third straight year.
He started this season on ESPN’s top NBA announcing team with Mike Breen and Doris Burke.
In fact, Breen had the best line on Rivers returning to coaching after a brief run with the Worldwide Leader: “We thank him for all his many weeks of service.”
Rivers, who led the Boston Celtics to an NBA title in 2008, is ninth all-time with 1,097 regular-season wins.