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Doc Rivers

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Doc Rivers
Boston Celtics
PositionHead Coach
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1961-10-13) October 13, 1961 (age 62)
Chicago, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolProviso East
CollegeMarquette (1980–1983)
NBA draft1983: 2nd round, 31st overall pick
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks
Playing career1983–1996
Career history
As player:
1983–1991Atlanta Hawks
1991–1992Los Angeles Clippers
1992–1994New York Knicks
1994–1996San Antonio Spurs
As coach:
1999–2003Orlando Magic
2004–presentBoston Celtics
Career highlights and awards

As player:

As coach:

Career statistics
Points9,377 (10.9 ppg)
Assists4,889 (5.7 apg)
Steals1,563 (1.8 spg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Representing  United States
Basketball
FIBA World Championship
Silver medal – second place 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 a former professional basketball player and the current head coach of the NBA's Boston Celtics. Rivers was known for his defense while playing in the NBA. His skills as floor general and point guard helped him transition into a coach following his playing career.

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 was selected as the tournament MVP, despite missing the last shot in the final which could have given the title to his team. After graduating from Marquette University, Rivers was drafted in the second round (31st overall[2]) of the 1983 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks. 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 bench player for the San Antonio Spurs.

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 start to the season.

Boston Celtics (2004–present)

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 ESPN's 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,[4] although the Celtics needed an NBA record 26 post-season games to win it. By a strange twist of fate, 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.

After deliberating between 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]

Personal

Rivers is the nephew of former NBA player Jim Brewer. He lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife Kristen and their four children.[2] His oldest son Jeremiah played basketball for Georgetown University before transferring to play for Indiana University,[8] while his daughter Callie played volleyball for the University of Florida.[9] Rivers also has a younger son, Austin Rivers, who played one year at guard for Duke University before declaring for the 2012 NBA Draft. Doc Rivers is the cousin of former NBA guard Byron Irvin and former MLB outfielder Ken Singleton.[10]

Rivers was given his nickname 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.[11]

Head coaching record

Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
ORL 1999–00 82 41 41 .500 4th in Atlantic — — — — Missed Playoffs
ORL 2000–01 82 43 39 .524 4th in Atlantic 4 1 3 .250 Lost in First Round
ORL 2001–02 82 44 38 .537 3rd in Atlantic 4 1 3 .250 Lost in First Round
ORL 2002–03 82 42 40 .512 4th in Atlantic 7 3 4 .429 Lost in First Round
ORL 2003–04 11 1 10 .091 (fired) — — — — —
BOS 2004–05 82 45 37 .549 1st in Atlantic 7 3 4 .429 Lost in First Round
BOS 2005–06 82 33 49 .402 3rd in Atlantic — — — — Missed Playoffs
BOS 2006–07 82 24 58 .293 5th in Atlantic — — — — Missed Playoffs
BOS 2007–08 82 66 16 .805 1st in Atlantic 26 16 10 .615 Won NBA Championship
BOS 2008–09 82 62 20 .756 1st in Atlantic 14 7 7 .500 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
BOS 2009–10 82 50 32 .610 1st in Atlantic 24 15 9 .625 Lost in NBA Finals
BOS 2010–11 82 56 26 .683 1st in Atlantic 9 5 4 .556 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
BOS 2011–12 66 39 27 .591 1st in Atlantic 13 8 5 .615 -
Total 979 546 433 .558 108 59 49 .546
Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %

See also

References

  1. ^ Mitchell, Fred (2012-02-18). "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 2012-02-18.
  2. ^ a b 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 (2011-05-14). Retrieved on 2012-04-20.
  7. ^ Rivers gets five-year extension as coach of Celtics. NBA.com (2011-05-13). Retrieved on 2012-04-20.
  8. ^ Doc Rivers' son to transfer from Georgetown. Sports.espn.go.com (2008-05-07). Retrieved on 2012-04-20.
  9. ^ Rivers flows through it – News –. Gatorsports.com (2007-12-06). Retrieved on 2012-04-20.
  10. ^ – Doc Rivers. Insidehoops.com. Retrieved on 2012-04-20.
  11. ^ Doc Rivers. Nba.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-01.

External links

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