Is This it for Doc Rivers?
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Doc Rivers has walked away as the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. Or they fired him. Or it was mutual. I have heard all three things being said since the NBA regular season ended. Let’s discuss.
Doc Rivers is an okay coach. He does have a championship ring. He started his head coaching career in 1999 when he took over the head job with the Magic. He was there for four seasons. He even won coach of the year in 2000. He brought the Magic back to relevancy. He had the Magic at or above .500 every season he was the head coach. He took them to the playoffs three times. He was let go after the Magic started the 2003-04 season 1-10. He did try to lure Tim Duncan away from San Antonio, but that didn't work. If it had, that would have been a real sliding doors scenario for the NBA.
He wasn't out of a head coaching job that long. He took over as the head coach of the Celtics in 2004. He had the most success while with the Celtics. The first three years only had one playoff appearance, but in year four they won the whole thing. This was when the Celtics got Paul Pierce some help trading for Kevin Garnett and adding Ray Allen via free agency. This was one of the first "super teams", and this team won it all. KG got a ring. Ray Allen got his first ring. Paul Pierce more than proved his worth. And the Celtics won it all with an excellent defense. They could have won it all the very next season, but injuries slowed them down in the conference semifinals. They made it back to the finals the next year, getting beat by the Lakers. But Doc Rivers had proven that he could win, and take teams to high heights, as long as he had a great roster.
Doc stuck with the Celtics for three more seasons, but in the 2013-14 season he took the head coaching job with the Clippers. The Clippers were supposed to win it all. They had all the players they needed, they just needed a proper head coach. Doc Rivers was supposed to be that guy. He was the missing piece. And while those Clippers teams were fun, they never made it out of the conference semifinals. They would have these wonderful regular seasons, only to see any hope of a long playoff run die in spectacular fashion. Those Clippers teams were full of arrogant assholes too. Blake Griffin was only a ferocious dunker, nothing more. Chris Paul was a pain in the ass, who would find ways to blow games at any given moment. Deandre Jordan couldn't stay out of foul trouble. The players would pour drinks on opposing teams fans. They allowed Josh Richardson to rain threes on them. They let the Thunder, led by KD and Russell Westbrook, beat them early in their run. These Clippers teams couldn't get out of their own way, and a lot of that falls on Doc Rivers. He did have to navigate the whole Donald Sterling thing, and I do think Doc Rivers did a good job with that fiasco. But the rings never came.
Next he took over as the head coach of the 76ers for the 2020-21 season. This seemed like a good fit too, but we have the whole Ben Simmons of it all. Simmons could have been great, but he got in his own head. And when Doc Rivers didn't take his side, he became known as not a players coach. The media ripped him for this and it made his time as the 76ers head coach fraught with criticism. He was blamed for Simmons flaming out. He was told he was taking Joel Embiid's side too much. He tried to bring on his type of players, but it didn't amount to much. Those 76ers teams were loaded with talent, but they never got out of the East semifinals. I do think that this team could have won a title if they had a better head coach.
Rivers was then assigned to take over when the Bucks fired their young coach. Apparently Giannis didn't like that coach and they gave the job to Rivers. I thought this was going to work. It did not and it did not to epic proportions. Doc Rivers never really had a hold on this Bucks team. He never had his full complement of players. Someone was always injured. They didn't get out of the first round of the playoffs the last two seasons. Part of that is due to injuries, other parts are due to Rivers coaching inadequacies. The Bucks were very bad this season, and it looks like Giannis is on his way out. This whole Doc Rivers Milwaukee Bucks marriage never worked. It did the opposite of that. This was bad on all counts. And no matter what Rives says or the front office says, the Bucks are not in a good place right now. This team may actually need a full tear down. I mean, they're paying two people, Damian Lillard and Doc Rivers, that don't even work there anymore. They still have Kyle Kuzma. They gave Myles Turner a humongous contract last offseason. More changes than just a new head coach may need to be made here. And this bums me out because my dad is a Bucks fan and I want him to be pleased with what his favorite team is doing and the direction they're headed in.
This may be the end of Doc Rivers as a viable head coach in the NBA. He may get a spot at one of the soon to be open head coaching spots in the NBA, but not with a big time franchise. Maybe the Pelicans or Wizards will target him. But teams in big cities or with big name players, I'm sure they will pass on Rivers. At least he has a championship ring.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.