NBA coaching legend Doc Rivers may be nearing the end of his iconic career. According to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, the Hall of Famer is contemplating retirement this summer, following the conclusion of another disappointing season for the Bucks.
Rivers, who is one of the most experienced coaches in the league, has amassed 1,100 wins over five different coaching gigs. Starting with the Magic in 1999, he built a name for himself with his ability to connect with players. Renowned for his humble and approachable personality, Doc has been known for emphasizing mental toughness and working through pressure.
Still, when looking at the totality of his career, it seems that Doc didn’t always get the best out of his opportunities. Despite coaching several high-profile superstars, Rivers only has one championship to his name, which he won almost 18 years ago. Today, Doc’s legacy is scrutinized more than you’d think for a guy with such a decorated resume. In the end, however, we can all agree that he left his teams in a better state than when he joined them.
Humble Beginnings With Magic
The Magic is where it all began for Doc Rivers. Before he was famous in his field, he was simply trying to prove himself on a Magic team with minimal expectations. From 1999 to 2003, he served his first stint as coach, turning an expected lottery team into a steady playoff contender. In 2000, after leading them to a 41-41 record, he even won Coach of the Year for his role in the franchise’s turnaround.
While this run was relatively short-lived for Rivers, he showed enough as a coach to establish himself as a viable voice in the locker room. He was ultimately fired in 2003 after an abysmal 1-10 start, but his impact lingered for years after helping several young players find their footing. In a little-known fact, he even tried (and failed) to pair Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill with Tim Duncan.
While Doc’s Magic era wasn’t a total failure, you can’t really call it a success, either. The Magic showed some potential under his guidance, but they were never good enough to pose a serious threat in the playoffs.
Glory Days In Boston
Doc’s next stop was with the Celtics, and it stands today as the peak of his NBA coaching career. He served there from 2003 to 2013, compiling a 416-305 regular-season record and leading the team to the 2008 NBA Championship. He established a deep connection with the big three (Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett) and was able to bring out their best on defense, where they were among the highest-ranked teams in the league.
Under his watch, the Celtics were consistently one of the winningest teams in the NBA, going toe-to-toe with Kobe Bryant at the prime of his career. While Rivers chose to leave the franchise once they started a rebuild, his role and impact have been immortalized in Celtics history. To this day, he maintains a close and positive relationship with his former players.
Overall, Doc’s Celtics days are nostalgic for all the right reasons. This is when he showed what he could do by maximizing talent, getting the most out of stars, and developing a system that catered to the roster’s strengths.
Disappointment In Los Angeles
Doc Rivers began his Clippers tenure via a trade from the Celtics, leaving no gap between the jobs. At the time, he wanted to avoid a rebuild and coach a more competitive team, but it wasn’t for another few years that he’d actually get his wish. Unfortunately, not even the arrivals of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard could change the Clippers’ fortunes.
While Doc had some initial success with Lou Williams and Patrick Beverley, he just couldn’t make it work in the Leonard era, repeatedly falling short when the stakes were highest. Over six seasons, he went 356-208 in the regular-season and helped them to the playoffs six times. Only once did the Clippers ever get past the second round.
In fact, the Doc-led Clippers blew two 3-1 series leads, first to the Houston Rockets in the 2015 Western Conference Semifinals and then to the Nuggets in the 2020 bubble. By the time Rivers left in 2020, the majority of fans were already calling for his job.
76ers Disaster
The situation in Philadelphia was the messiest of Rivers’s coaching career so far. To this day, he maintains that Joel Embiid is the best player he’s ever coached, but they didn’t actually accomplish much together. In fact, Embiid has yet to advance past the second round. Despite achieving 154 wins in three seasons, repeated playoff failures cost Rivers his job in Philadelphia, and it also damaged his reputation.
The worst of it came with Ben Simmons, who was an All-Star at one point. Doc could never help him learn how to shoot, and it resulted in his confidence being completely sapped. What followed was a dramatic breakup that Doc Rivers was caught squarely in the middle of.
Without a doubt, the 76ers mark the darkest period of Doc’s coaching tenure. Despite having all the talent he could want, Rivers couldn’t bring it all together when it mattered. For many fans, Doc’s shortcomings didn’t just play a hand in wasting Embiid’s prime; they played a hand in setting the franchise back years.
Last Chance With Bucks
It was respect and experience that landed Doc his latest coaching gig, and this could very well be his last one. What started as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard has devolved into Giannis and role-players as the Bucks scramble to salvage the Giannis era. While Doc isn’t to blame for all their struggles, there are major doubts about his effectiveness in the modern NBA.
Between questionable rotations, slow adjustments, and a lack of stability in the locker room, the criticisms are piling up for Rivers, all while he crashes out over the Giannis trade rumors. Regardless of how much longer Doc sticks around, it hasn’t been a great start for him in Milwaukee, and his time there may already be over unless the Bucks can show some signs of life.
Between this, the 76ers, or the Clippers, it’s hard to say which is Doc’s greatest failure. Then again, if you ask him, they may not be failures at all. Even if he only wins one championship, he has established a winning culture everywhere he has gone, sharing his wisdom and helping players maximize their talent by building up good habits.
