Doc Rivers



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. {| class="toc" id="toc"

Contents
[hide] *1 Playing career
 * 2 Coaching career
 * 2.1 Orlando Magic (1999–2003)
 * 2.2 Boston Celtics (2004–present)
 * 3 Personal
 * 4 Head coaching record
 * 5 See also
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links
 * }

[edit]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.

[edit]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 in2000 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.

[edit]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 theEastern 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]

[edit]Personal
Rivers is the nephew of former NBA player Jim Brewer. He lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife Kristen Rivers and their four children.[2] His oldest son Jeremiahplayed 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]

[edit]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

[edit]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.