3x NBA Slam Dunk champion points finger at Doc Rivers for losing $1.5 million

Doc Rivers has come under criticism for his perceived lack of accountability amid his rough 16-17 start with the Milwaukee Bucks. However, according to Rivers’ former player Nate Robinson, the veteran coach’s shortcomings are nothing new.

On “The OGs” podcast with former Miami Heat teammates Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller, Robinson questioned Rivers’ ability to lead the Bucks to success. Afterward, he touched on his unpleasant experience playing for Rivers as a member of the Boston Celtics.

Robinson played 81 games over parts of two seasons with Boston after being acquired from the New York Knicks at the 2010 trade deadline. He had a sizeable role with the Knicks, playing 24.4 minutes per game over 30 games in the 2009-10 season.

However, upon landing with the Celtics, the three-time Slam Dunk Contest champion’s minutes dropped to 14.7 mpg over 26 games to close the season.

Per Robinson, despite his playing time decrease, he had an opportunity to earn a considerable $1.5 million contract bonus. All he had to do was appear in a certain number of games. However, Rivers allegedly prevented him from hitting his minimum games-played requirement.

“It seems like he messes up every place he goes. I still got a little beef with Doc,” Robinson said. “Long story short, I had it in my contract where I made like $1.5 [million], or something like that, if I played a certain amount of games. Doc Rivers gave me a DNP the game where I needed one more game to get $1.5 million, and all I had to do was go in the game.”

(33:36 mark below)

Nate Robinson says Doc Rivers intentionally deprived him of $1.5 million contract bonus

Some may interpret Nate Robinson’s story about Doc Rivers allegedly costing him $1.5 million as a simple player-coach misunderstanding. However, Robinson has no doubts that Rivers intentionally made him miss out on his contract bonus.

The 39-year-old said he made his team aware of his situation before the game he needed to play in to earn his bonus. Some of his veteran teammates told him to be “professional” to avoid being sent to the D-League. So, he didn’t cause any problems.

However, Robinson said he called his agent after the game to inform him that Rivers deliberately gave him a DNP when he needed to play. He added that going from a consistent role with the Knicks to not playing for the Celtics was “the clearest sign.”

Robinson noted that he never spoke to Rivers about the situation directly. Nonetheless, he “knows he did that on purpose.”

Mike Miller subsequently double-checked if Rivers definitely knew about his contract bonus. Robinson didn’t hesitate to concur.

“Yeah, he knew. Yeah, they know all that, bro,” Robinson said.

(35:13 mark below)