Nate Robinson, an 11-year NBA veteran, recently opened up about his ongoing grievances with Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers during an episode of “The OGs” podcast, hosted by Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller.
Robinson discussed an incident involving Rivers that he believes was intentional and financially detrimental.
Robinson explained that he was close to earning an additional $1.5 million through a game-count incentive in his contract. However, Rivers decided not to play him in a crucial game, resulting in a “DNP” (did not play) status, which effectively cost him the bonus. “I’ve still got a little beef with Doc. I had in my contract where I made like $2 million or $1.5 million, something like that if I played a certain amount of games. Doc Rivers gives me a DNP the game where I needed one more game to get $1.5 million. I never even asked him, but I know he did that on purpose,” Robinson recounted.
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Robinson was traded from the New York Knicks to the Boston Celtics before the 2010 NBA trade deadline, with Rivers serving as the Celtics’ head coach at the time. Although it wasn’t the final game of the season—Robinson participated in the last four games for Boston—he missed significant playtime early in his tenure with the Celtics.
After being traded 53 games into the Knicks’ 2009-10 season, Robinson missed his first three games with the Celtics due to Rivers’ decision. These absences restricted his total games played for the season to 56, despite the potential to appear in 58 games if he had played continuously post-trade. This decision by Rivers ultimately prevented Robinson from reaching the 60-game threshold necessary to trigger his $1.5 million incentive.
Robinson recently revealed he doesn’t have much time to live as he’s currently battling kidney failure.
