Doc Rivers

Doc Rivers

Rivers as the Celtics head coach
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
Pro 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: NBA All-Star (1988) J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (1990) USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (1982) FIBA World Championship MVP (1982) As coach: NBA champion (2008) NBA Coach of the Year (2000) 2× NBA All-Star Game head coach (2008, 2011)
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 Competitor for  United States Basketball FIBA World Championship Silver 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. A point guard, Rivers was known for his defense while playing in the NBA.

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 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 bench 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 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. 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]

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. In 2014 their playoff series against the Golden State Warriors was marred when TMZ released an audiotape containing racist remarks made by 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.^[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.

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] while his younger 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 currently plays for Winter Park High School and will play for UC Irvine.

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

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.^[16]

Other work

He 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]

Head coaching record

See also

• List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders
• List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game
• List of National Basketball Association players with most steals in a game

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Doc Rivers.

• Doc Rivers Coaching Info at NBA.com
• databaseBasketball.com: Doc Rivers (as coach)
• databaseBasketball.com: Doc Rivers (as player)