Happy 60th Birthday Doc Rivers
Doc Rivers has strung together two acts in the NBA. First, as the oversized point guard who played during the ultra physical era of the NBA. Second, as a head coach who is a fixture in the NBA playoffs. Today we celebrate the 60th birthday of the future Basketball Hall of Famer, Glenn "Doc" Rivers.
Player
The Atlanta Hawks selected the former McDonalds All-American and Marquette standout in the second round of the 1983 NBA Draft. Rivers played for the Hawks from 1983-1991.
Thanks to a deep roster consisting of Rivers, Tree Rollins, Randy Whitman, Kevin Willis, and Dominique Wilkins, the team enjoyed a lot of winning throughout the 1980s. Unfortunately, their sustained success overlapped with the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, and a young Chicago Bulls team.
Nevertheless, the Hawks teams created many great moments in The Omni. Those teams could run, jump, and sometimes even fight with the best of them. Check out some of the highlights below.
Following the 1990-1991 season, Rivers played one season for the Los Angeles Clippers, before spending two years with the New York Knicks (1992-1994), and eventually finishing his playing career with the San Antonio Spurs (1994-1996).
Although Rivers never won an NBA Championship as a player, he did play in the 1988 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago. Additionally, he was a J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 1990.
Coach
Three years after his playing days ended, Rivers seamlessly transitioned into coaching. The basketball lifer has coached every single season from 1999 to the present day. Early in his career, he won the NBA Coach of the Year award in 2000 after leading the underdog Orlando Magic to the playoffs.
After coaching in Orlando from 1999-2003, Rivers took over the highly-scrutinized head coaching position for the Boston Celtics. After a slow start in Boston, the Celtics eventually won the 2008 NBA Championship with the big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen.
True to the historic nature of his career, Rivers was actually traded to the Clippers for a first-round pick in 2013. His tenure in Tinsel Town included:
- Overseeing the Lob City era
- Holding the franchise together during the Donald Sterling controversy
- Coaching the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George superteam for one season
In October 2020, Rivers accepted the position of head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers. As luck would have it, the former Hawks point guard has a new rivalry against his old team. In addition to his 2008 NBA Championship, Rivers has amassed accomplishments that rival the greatest coaches of all time.
- 992 Career Wins
- 3x All-Star Coach
- Only 4 seasons where his team missed the playoffs
No one in NBA history has a career that is equal to Doc Rivers. He has played and coached with and against the legends of the game. Even more importantly, he has never shied away from using his platform to elevate the country's critical issues. Happy birthday to the hoops legend, and here is to many more battles.
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