Bobby Portis Drops Awkward Admission After Bucks Fired Doc Rivers
The 2025-26 NBA season couldn't end soon enough for the Milwaukee Bucks.
When it did, the Bucks also fired head coach Doc Rivers. He finishes his tenure in Milwaukee with a 97-103 record in two and a half seasons after he took over in the middle of the 2023-24 campaign.
The writing had been on the wall for the Bucks to move on from Rivers, and questions involving the future of superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo also circulated around the team all season long.
Now, the Bucks are searching for a new head coach, but forward Bobby Portis said it was an "awkward" scene after the news came out about Rivers.
"I got the news when everybody else got the news," Portis said during an episode of "Run It Back."
"It was very shocking that it happened so fast," Portis added. "I don't even know where he was at. It was just kind of awkward for us just that it happened at that moment."
Bobby Portis didn't know Doc Rivers was done as Bucks HC until everyone else did
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) April 14, 2026
Bobby says there was no goodbye speech:
"I don't even know where he was at. It was awkward."@BPortistime | @MichelleDBeadle | @ChandlerParsons | @TeamLou23pic.twitter.com/dW4wnefYV2
Portis said there was no goodbye speech and the players found out when they got on the bus after the final game came to an end.
The Bucks' season concluded with a 126-106 loss on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers, which ironically is the team Rivers coached before he came to Milwaukee.
Who Can the Bucks Hire Now?
The Bucks fired Adrian Griffin in the middle of the 2023-24 campaign and hired Rivers in a stunning twist at the time.
And, it's safe to say this past season was a headache for a number of reasons in Milwaukee, which means the franchise has a very important hire to make this time around.
A popular name mentioned is former Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins. One internal candidate is also a name to watch: Darvin Ham.
Ham previously was the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers before taking an assistant job with Milwaukee, and New Orleans Pelicans interim coach James Borrego is another option that could garner some interest from the Bucks, if he doesn't return to the Pelicans.
All in all, the Bucks have a lot of questions to answer this summer, and the first one is regarding the next head coach.
Related: Doc Rivers Lays Blame As Bucks Miss Playoffs
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This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 9:24 AM.