Doc Rivers

Doc Rivers

Rivers coaching the Celtics
Los Angeles Clippers
Position Head coach / President of Basketball Operations
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1961-10-13) October 13, 1961
Chicago, Illinois
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight 185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school Proviso East (Maywood, Illinois)
College Marquette (1980–1983)
NBA draft 1983 / Round: 2 / Pick: 31st overall
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks
Playing career 1983–1996
Position Point guard
Number 25
Coaching career 1999–present
Career history
As player:
1983–1991 Atlanta Hawks
1991–1992 Los Angeles Clippers
1992–1994 New York Knicks
1994–1996 San Antonio Spurs
As coach:
1999–2003 Orlando Magic
2004–2013 Boston Celtics
2013–present Los Angeles Clippers
Career highlights and awards

As player:

As coach:

Career statistics
Points 9,377 (10.9 ppg)
Assists 4,889 (5.7 apg)
Steals 1,563 (1.8 spg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Representing  United States
Basketball
FIBA World Championship
1982 Colombia National team
Rivers (center) sits on the sidelines with assistant coaches Tom Thibodeau (right) and Armond Hill (left) in Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks.
Rivers at the championship parade of the 2008 NBA Champions Boston Celtics.

Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers (born October 13, 1961) is an American basketball coach and former player. He is the current head coach and President of Basketball Operations for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. As an NBA point guard, Rivers was known for his defense.

Playing career

Rivers was a McDonald's All-American for Proviso East High School in the Chicago metropolitan area.[1] Rivers represented the United States with the national team in the 1982 FIBA World Championship, in which he led the team to the silver medal, despite missing the last shot in the final, which could have given the title to his team. After his third season at Marquette University, Rivers was drafted in the second round (31st overall[2]) of the 1983 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks. He graduated from Marquette while completing course work as an NBA player. He spent the next seven seasons as a starter in Atlanta, assisting star Dominique Wilkins as the team found great regular-season success. He averaged a double-double for the 1986–87 season with 12.8 points and 10.0 assists per game. Rivers later spent one year as a starter for the Los Angeles Clippers and two more for the New York Knicks, before finishing his career as a player for the San Antonio Spurs from 1994 to 1996.

Coaching career

Orlando Magic (1999–2003)

Rivers began his coaching career with the Orlando Magic in 1999, where he coached for more than four NBA seasons. Rivers won the Coach of the Year award in 2000 after his first year with the Magic. That season, he led the team that was picked to finish last in the league to a near playoff berth. He made the post-season in his next three years as coach, but was fired in 2003 after a disastrous 1-10 start to the season.

Boston Celtics (2004–2013)

After spending a year working as a commentator for the NBA on ABC (calling the 2004 Finals with Al Michaels), he took over the Boston Celtics coaching position in 2004. During his first years with the Celtics, he was criticized by many in the media for his coaching style, most vociferously by Bill Simmons, who in 2006 publicly called for Rivers to be fired in his columns.

As a result of the Celtics' 109–93 victory over the New York Knicks on January 21, 2008, Rivers, as the coach of the team with the best winning percentage in the Eastern Conference, earned the honor to coach the East for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans.[3] On June 17, 2008, Rivers won his first NBA Championship as a head coach after defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.[4] The Celtics needed an NBA record 26 post-season games to win it. Rivers played for the team that held the previous record for most games played in a single post-season: the 1994 New York Knicks played 25 post-season games.

Rivers would lead the Celtics to the 2010 NBA Finals where they would once again face the Los Angeles Lakers and lose the series in seven games.

After deliberating between staying on the job and leaving the job and returning to spend more time with his family in Orlando, Rivers finally decided that he would honor the last year of his contract and return for the 2010–11 season.[5]

On May 13, 2011, after months of rumors that he would retire, ESPN reported that the Celtics and Rivers agreed upon a 5-year contract extension worth $35 million.[6][7]

On February 6, 2013, Rivers notched his 400th win with the Celtics in a 99–95 victory over the Toronto Raptors.[8]

Los Angeles Clippers (2013–present)

On June 25, 2013, the Los Angeles Clippers acquired Rivers from the Celtics for an unprotected 2015 NBA first round draft pick. He also became the Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations on the team.[9] In his first season as their head coach, Rivers led the Clippers to a franchise-record 57 wins, garnering the 3rd seed in the Western conference. The 2014 NBA playoffs first round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors was marred when TMZ released an audiotape containing racially insensitive remarks made by the then-Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Though there was a possibility of the Clippers boycotting the series, they would play on, holding a silent protest by leaving their shooting jerseys at center court and obscuring the Clippers logo on their warm-up shirts. Rivers himself stated that he would not return to the Clippers if Sterling remained as owner the following season. NBA commissioner Adam Silver responded to the controversy by banning Sterling for life and compelling him to sell the team. After the team was sold to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion on August 12, 2014, Rivers remained with the Clippers.[10]

On June 16, 2014, the Clippers promoted Rivers to President of Basketball Operations in conjunction with his continuing head coaching duties. Although Dave Wohl was hired as general manager, Rivers has the final say in basketball matters.[11] On August 27, 2014, he signed a new five-year contract with the Clippers.[12]

On January 16, 2015, Rivers became the first NBA coach to coach his own son, Austin Rivers.

Head coaching record

Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win-loss %
Post season PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win-loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Orlando 1999–00 824141.5004th in Atlantic———— Missed Playoffs
Orlando 2000–01 824339.5244th in Atlantic413.250 Lost in First Round
Orlando 2001–02 824438.5373rd in Atlantic413.250 Lost in First Round
Orlando 2002–03 824240.5124th in Atlantic734.429 Lost in First Round
Orlando 2003–04 11110.091(fired)———— —
Boston 2004–05 824537.5491st in Atlantic734.429 Lost in First Round
Boston 2005–06 823349.4023rd in Atlantic———— Missed Playoffs
Boston 2006–07 822458.2935th in Atlantic———— Missed Playoffs
Boston 2007–08 826616.8051st in Atlantic261610.615 Won NBA Championship
Boston 2008–09 826220.7561st in Atlantic1477.500 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Boston 2009–10 825032.6101st in Atlantic24159.625 Lost in NBA Finals
Boston 2010–11 825626.6831st in Atlantic954.556 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Boston 2011–12 663927.5911st in Atlantic20119.550 Lost in Conf. Finals
Boston 2012–13 814140.5063rd in Atlantic624.333 Lost in First Round
L.A. Clippers 2013–14 825725.6951st in Pacific1367.462 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
L.A. Clippers 2014–15 825626.6832nd in Pacific1477.500 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
L.A. Clippers 2015–16 825329.6462nd in Pacific624.333 Lost in First Round
Total 1306753553.577 1547975.513

Personal life

Rivers is the nephew of former NBA player Jim Brewer. He lives in Orlando, Florida, with his wife Kristen; they have four children.[2] His oldest son Jeremiah played basketball at Georgetown University and Indiana University,[13] and has played in the NBA D-League for the Maine Red Claws. His daughter Callie played volleyball for the University of Florida[14] and then played professionally in Puerto Rico, while his second-born son Austin played one year as a guard for Duke University before being drafted by the New Orleans Hornets with the 10th pick of the 2012 NBA draft, and joined his father on the Clippers in 2015. His youngest son, Spencer, is a guard who played for Winter Park High School and for UC Irvine.

Rivers is a cousin of former NBA guard Byron Irvin and former MLB outfielder Ken Singleton.[15]

Rivers was given his nickname of "Doc" by then-Marquette assistant coach Rick Majerus. Rivers attended a summer basketball camp wearing a "Dr. J" T-shirt. Majerus immediately called him "Doc" and the players at camp followed suit. The name has stuck ever since.[16]

Other work

Rivers is also currently a member of the National Advisory Board for Positive Coaching Alliance, a national non-profit organization that helps student-athletes and their coaches.[17] Rivers has appeared in several videos for this organization, all of which can be found on the group's YouTube channel.[18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mitchell, Fred (February 18, 2012). "Rivers reflects on stress son is under: Austin was high school phenom like his father, but Celtics coach says pressure much greater now". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  2. 1 2 Doc Rivers Coaching Info at NBA.com
  3. ↑ "Doc Rivers to Coach East in 2008 All-Star Game". NBA.com. January 21, 2008.
  4. ↑ Spears, Marc J. (June 18, 2008). "Ring it up!". Boston Globe.
  5. ↑ Wojnarowski, Adrian (June 30, 2010). "Rivers returning to coach Celtics". Yahoo! Sports.
  6. ↑ Doc Rivers agrees to 5-year extension with Boston Celtics – ESPN Boston. Sports.espn.go.com (May 14, 2011). Retrieved on 2012-04-20.
  7. ↑ Rivers gets five-year extension as coach of Celtics. NBA.com (May 13, 2011). Retrieved on 2012-04-20.
  8. ↑ "Celtics at Raptors". NBA.com.
  9. ↑ Patten, Eric (June 25, 2013) "RIVERS HEADED TO L.A.".
  10. ↑ "Doc Rivers won't return to Clippers under Donald Sterling, per report". SBNation.com (Vox Media). April 29, 2014
  11. ↑ "CLIPPERS RESTRUCTURE BASKETBALL OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT". Los Angeles Clippers.
  12. ↑ "Doc Rivers Agrees to Contract Through 2019 Season". Los Angeles Clippers. August 27, 2014
  13. ↑ Doc Rivers' son to transfer from Georgetown. Sports.espn.go.com (May 7, 2008). Retrieved on 2012-04-20.
  14. ↑ Rivers flows through it – News –. Gatorsports.com (December 6, 2007). Retrieved on 2012-04-20.
  15. ↑ – Doc Rivers. Insidehoops.com. Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
  16. ↑ Doc Rivers. Nba.com. Retrieved on May 1, 2011.
  17. ↑ "National Advisory Board".
  18. ↑ Positive Coaching Alliance's channel on YouTube
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