Doc Rivers Offers High Praise to Thunder Star and Bench Boss

The Oklahoma City Thunder earned high praise from Bucks bench boss Doc Rivers ahead of Friday's matchup.

Mar 24, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers reacts to a call / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder (55-25) take on the Milwaukee Bucks (49-31) on Friday Night with the ability to shuffle the NBA Playoff standings.

With the Thunder pulling off yet another 15-win improvement this season, Oklahoma City is again the talk of the NBA. The Bricktown boys have an MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Coach of the Year candidate in Mark Daigneault.

Before Friday's game tipped off bench boss Doc Rivers offered up high praise from the Oklahoma City Thunder with the playoffs just around the corner.

“Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] could play defense in college? I had him in his rookie year and I didn’t see any of that. I have a beef to pick with Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] now," Rivers joked when discussing the areas the star has grown on Friday night.

“Shai could play defense in college? I had him in his rookie year and I didn’t see any of that. I have a beef to pick with Shai now.”

Doc Rivers jokingly talked about SGA’s improvement as a defender and then went into some depth praising Shai’s improvement as a defender. pic.twitter.com/wcR0ixOovV

— Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) April 12, 2024

However, the comments didn't stop there as Rivers went on to say who he would cast his vote for in the Coach of the Year race if he was eligible to tab a winner.

"If I had a vote, I would vote for [Mark Daigneault], Absolutely...I do not think he gets enough due, working with all these young guys and getting these young guys to buy in at a championship level," Rivers campaigned for Daigneault to take home the honor.

Doc Rivers says that if he was voting for coach of the year that he would vote for Mark Daigneault.

Doc mentioned that he doesn’t feel that Mark gets enough due for getting such a young team to buy in at a championship level.

(Question: @joe_mussatto) pic.twitter.com/q4qvjo66aP

— Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) April 12, 2024

Up next, the Oklahoma City Thunder will conclude their regular season with a matchup against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Inside the Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.