IRVINE, Calif. — As Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez secured a defensive rebound and looked for an outlet pass to a teammate in a Wednesday training camp session at the Bren Events Center on the UC-Irvine campus, an unfamiliar voice barked instructions from the sidelines.
“Run,” Rajon Rondo, the recently retired four-time All-Star point guard, bellowed from the sidelines. “F—— run!”
His intended audience of one — two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo — received the message loud and clear and bolted up the floor as Lopez passed the ball to point guard Damian Lillard.
With Lillard bringing the ball up, Antetokounmpo sprinted and drew the attention of multiple defenders, which left Gary Trent Jr., one of the Bucks’ offseason free-agent signings, wide open to receive a pass from Lillard in the corner and line up a 3-point attempt.
“Rondo was great today,” Rivers told The Athletic following Wednesday’s practice session. “Three times today, Giannis ran. Twice, he created a mismatch because he was so fast that a guard had to take him and then we got it to him. Once, two guys sucked in and Gary Trent’s sitting there (wide open) and that’s without Giannis having the ball.
“And so if we can teach it, we’re going to be in a great spot. Like Dame, half the time last year, when Giannis got a rebound, he’s coming back, but Giannis is already gone. And today, Dame got two 3s because right when Giannis got it, Dame took off. Giannis drives and Dame’s sitting there (wide open). They can make each other so much better, but they gotta get used to doing things that they haven’t done.”
For Rivers, this is the work that lies ahead as the Bucks continue to figure out how to get the most out of their superstar duo of Antetokounmpo and Lillard in his first full season as head coach in Milwaukee.
Even though Antetokounmpo and Lillard played 65 games together last season in Lillard’s first season with the Bucks, only 30 of those games occurred with Rivers at the helm. They never shared the floor in the postseason as Antetokounmpo’s left soleus (calf) strain kept him out of all six games of the Bucks’ first-round series loss to the Indiana Pacers. Lillard missed two games of that series with right Achilles tendinitis.
So, while this is their second year together as a duo, this is their first full season with Rivers. That means the team needs to establish the right habits together in training camp. To help with that process, Rivers enlisted his floor general during his time with the Boston Celtics.
“It’s been a great experience,” Rondo told The Athletic. “For him to even suggest for me to come out and be a part of this and learn from who I feel like is one of the best has ever taught me. Obviously, I started my career with Doc, so it’s kind of full circle to where if I do go into this career, he’s been my teacher from day one.”
Rondo is not a member of the Bucks’ coaching staff, but he is serving in the role of guest coach for the team during the team’s five-day stay in California to start training camp. And while Rivers admitted he was not sure if his former point guard would be comfortable enough to step up in his first experience as a coach, that hasn’t proven to be a problem as Rondo has willingly spoken his mind and explained what he is seeing to players throughout training camp.
From the retired point guard’s perspective, his willingness to speak out has been assisted by Lillard’s openness to hearing his perspective, despite competing head-to-head for a decade at the same position.
Guest coach Rajon Rondo at camp in Cali. pic.twitter.com/j5IQkgfABx
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) October 1, 2024
“It’s very exciting,” Rondo said of working with Lillard. “Especially when you compete against somebody for over a decade and then to actually sit back in a different role and try to help, I continue to say this, but it’s very humbling that he’s even open to have the conversations because he could be a different type of person where he doesn’t want to receive help. And like I said, he hasn’t been that way at all.
“It’s just been fun to watch him, kind of pick his brain because I didn’t have half the talent he did offensively. So I just try to share my thoughts on what I was great at with him and that’s obviously managing the game.”
Ultimately, while the example of Rondo loudly encouraging Antetokounmpo to run the floor may seem like a simple observation, it speaks to the building blocks the Bucks need to put in place at the start of this season and the things they failed to master offensively in the first season of the Antetokounmpo-Lillard partnership.
As Rivers explained, something as simple as grabbing a rebound and getting the ball up the floor to start a possession proved to be more complicated than it might initially seem. The Bucks have three players — Antetokounmpo, Lillard and Khris Middleton — who can bring the ball up the floor and present a threat to opponents, and Antetokounmpo is one of the most feared transition players in NBA history.
“Last year, it was 1.18 (points per possession) when Giannis brought it up,” Rivers told The Athletic, citing some of the team’s internal statistics on transition offense. “It was actually funny. We made a joke about it (at camp). Dame was 1.30 when he got the rebound. And then I said, ‘But here’s the issue there.’ And they’re all looking at me and I said, ‘Dame don’t get a lot of rebounds.’ And Dame was like, ‘What the f—?’ I said, ‘Well, it’s f—— true.’
“So when you look at the numbers, Khris was 1.11, which is 28th (in the NBA). We got a guy who is 28th. We got a guy that’s ninth and we got a guy that’s fifth if they get the rebound and push it up. So we’re going to take advantage of that. But the problem we have is — and we’ve spelled it out for them — we have the guys that bring the ball up and then we have the runners. And we gotta get the guys who bring the ball up to understand when they don’t get it, they’re a runner and get them to see that. Like today, I thought a light went off (with) Giannis because every time Brook would outlet it to Dame, Giannis was still waiting and then Rondo yelled to him.”
Ultimately, that is the role that Rondo can effectively play for the Bucks this week in California as the team prepares for its first full season under Rivers. The Bucks play their first preseason game on Sunday against the Detroit Pistons, but after a disappointing end to last season, these five days can serve as the base for what they try to do the rest of the season.
“Obviously, their training camp is different from mine,” Rondo said. “They get four days. I think I had a couple of weeks. So just trying to help them speed that process of getting their chemistry together.
“And even though (Antetokounmpo and Lillard) played a year together already, the more you play together, like anything in life, you get a better feel for it. It’s just like any relationship.”
(Photo of Doc Rivers and Rajon Rondo: Andrew D. Bernstein / NBAE via Getty Images)
