Milwaukee Bucks head coach George Karl breathed new life into his long-running feud with Orlando's Doc Rivers when he implied in this month's Esquire magazine that Rivers got his head coaching job simply because of his race.

Karl's comments that "Doc's anointed" infuriated Rivers, causing him to go on the attack at Karl once again. The two have feuded verbally each of the past two seasons, particularly during their playoff series last season.

Karl has grown increasingly frustrated that many former players have been able to land head coaching jobs without any prior coaching experience. Rivers falls into that category, but has seemingly proven his credentials by winning the NBA's Coach of the Year award in 2000 and having the Magic in the playoff race a second consecutive season.

"Doc's anointed," Karl told the magazine. "Doc's been anointed and that's OK. I understand that that happens, but it's not necessarily right. Doc does a great job -- and now there's going to be four or five more anointments of the young Afro-American coach. Which is fine -- because I think they have been screwed, deep down inside. They have been screwed. But I have a great assistant coach that can't even get an interview. So I get (upset)."

While he was the only one singled out, Rivers said he believes that Karl's comments were directed at many of the young, African-American coaches in the NBA.

"I read the article and it's not really shot at me. He kind of gave me credit and he says I'm doing hell of a job," Rivers said. "But he's blaming me for doing a good job, and that's the reason the 'others,' -- and I hate that word -- the others getting jobs, meaning (Indiana's) Isiah (Thomas), (New Jersey's) Byron Scott, (Seattle's) Nate McMillen and I, is what bothers me. He never complained about Larry Bird when he got the job (in Indiana)."

Magic general manager John Gabriel dismissed Karl's comments and defended the hiring of Rivers.

"The guy I hired was the right coach three years ago and that's why we signed him to an extension last year," Gabriel said. "He's an educator, a communicator and players want to play for him. George is just too deep for me, I guess."

Rivers said that Karl's argument has no basis because he indeed paid his dues in the NBA as a player for 13 seasons.

"Isiah put in 11 years, Bryon put in 13, Nate put in 12 and I put in 13 years, but George didn't play that long and had to go up another way," Rivers noted. "He needed to pay his dues because he didn't play long enough to pay them. So does (Milwaukee assistant) Terry Stotts and everyone else.

"In one way, it's a compliment because he said I'm responsible for others getting their jobs because I did a good job. That must kill him to say that. But I take it personal when it's about race. I do take that personally, and there's no place for that."

Rivers' Magic host Karl's Bucks March 19 and play in Milwaukee on March 24. In short, the rivalry between the two is not likely to end any time soon.

"The bottom line is I don't think George has an opinion that anyone should listen to on this subject," Rivers added. "I don't think he's been anointed as the coach's spokesperson. He blames me for doing a good job. It's pretty silly. He's put in his foot in his mouth -- finally. He's a solid coach, and you've got to give him that credit. But he thinks he's more than he really is."