Bucks coach Doc Rivers will be the head coach of the Eastern Conference all-star team

DALLAS -- Doc Rivers may be just over a week into the job in Milwaukee, but he’ll be on bench for the NBA all-star game on Feb. 18 in Indianapolis.

The coaches for each conference all-star team are typically the top seeds but they cannot appear in consecutive seasons, so Boston’s staff is ineligible to coach the East this year. Sunday is the cutoff date for team’s records for the annual showcase, but the Bucks clinched the spot with a comeback 129-117 victory over the Mavericks on Saturday night.

It was Rivers' first as the head coach of the Bucks, who improved to 33-16 on the year.

"That is ridiculously bad," Rivers said with a laugh. "It really is. Well, Adrian (Griffin) is going to get some money, that's for sure. And a (all-star) ring. It's one of these quirky things. I think there should be a rule somehow that someone else does it other than me. Maybe I'll send my staff and I'll go on vacation. I'm going to run that by Adam Silver. Adam's a good man. I think he'll understand."

Milwaukee had a 32-14 record before Rivers began coaching Monday. Adrian Griffin was 30-13 before being fired on Jan. 23. The team went 2-1 under interim head coach Joe Prunty.

The last coach to pilot an all-star game after being hired midseason was Ty Lue with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.

This will be Rivers’ fourth time as an all-star head coach, tying him with seven others for fourth-most all-time. He coached the East in 2008 and 2011 while with Boston and Team Kevin Durant in 2021 while with Philadelphia.

He will be coaching Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, who were voted in as starters. Oshkosh native and Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton is also a starter for the Eastern Conference.

"He's going to coach the game?" Antetokounmpo asked with a smile. "It's great. I'm definitely happy for him. Not just for Doc. I think he's done it a lot of times in the past. Maybe one time he coached me in the past, or coached against me in 2021. But I'm happy for the whole coaching staff and the whole group that's going to go there because it's a unique experience and you cannot say a lot of times you've coached the all-star game. I'm definitely happy for them. It's a lot of hard work that paid off."

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