The Milwaukee Bucks are pretty banged up at the moment with both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton dealing with respective injuries.
Giannis has been deemed questionable to play on Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers due to an Achilles injury, while Middleton will now miss his 11th straight game as he continues to rehab an ankle sprain.
Despite the growing list of injuries, however, head coach Doc Rivers is making sure that he’s staying in his own lane.
Doc Rivers Speaks Out on Milwaukee Bucks’ Injuries
Speaking to reporters after Sunday’s practice, Rivers said that Middleton didn’t do much in practice and that it was unlikely that he would be available for Monday’s contest. True enough, the Bucks ruled the three-time All-Star out shortly after via the official injury report.
When asked what type of approach he was employing in terms of getting Middleton back into the fold, Rivers responded by saying that he would rather stay out of the entire situation:
“I don’t get involved,” he said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “It’s funny, even Khris said it, I don’t even ask. I do not get involved in the training room. I just think it’s a bad place for a coach to ever be. So I am never — I don’t think I’ve ever gone, ‘You’re going to play tomorrow, right?’ I don’t say a word. They come and tell me I’m praying that they know WAY more than me about the health part of it, and I’m sure they do.”
It’s not as if Rivers does not care about his players’ injuries. It’s actually quite the contrary. The veteran shot-caller chooses to exclude himself from the entire process so as not to impact the decision on whether or not Middleton — or any of his players, for that matter — is ready to return or not.
Instead of potentially influencing the decision, Rivers would much rather let the medical team handle the situation altogether, which just goes to show how much trust the one-time NBA champion coach has in his staff.
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