Six days ago, Doc Rivers celebrated his 63rd birthday, and in a few days, he will begin his 25th season on an NBA bench!
It all started in 1999, with Orlando, and since then, the current Bucks coach has coached 1,896 games for five different franchises. Which places him 10th in the NBA coaching rankingsjust behind Pat Riley whom he will overtake in nine games.
“If you look at my journey since leaving Boston, I've intentionally put myself in a position to win or fail, knowing that in a lot of cases, if we fail, it's my fault,” believes Doc Rivers. “But if I've learned anything from my time in Boston and the time it took me as a coach to get there, it's that I want this position more than the position of saying, ' We can finish 5th if certain things go well.' And I realize that this comes with a lot of criticism. It goes hand in hand with a lot of things. And thank God, I'm happy to be here. That’s how I see things.”
Teams that are cracking?
The criticisms have indeed been numerous for several seasons. At the Clippers, then at the Sixers and last season at the Bucks, Doc Rivers has the label of coach whose teams “crack” in important moments.
Three times, his teams lost a playoff series after leading 3-1 in a series…
“But for me, I never broke down” Doc Rivers defends. “Crack, what does that mean? Because we didn't win a title? Back to Philadelphia. I took this job after their 4-0 first round loss (to the Celtics in 2020 under Brett Brown). The following year we won the Eastern Conference in the regular season. All right. We are one game away from the Eastern Finals. »
Only two (complete) seasons in the negative in 25 years
For him, clearly, he is an easy target. “So there are times where I feel like we're being measured by different standards. And the good news is that I created this standard. For me, that's a good thing. But when you're told you can't do it, that's bullshit. Because I did it and I can do it. It's just hard to do it. It's just difficult. That’s why I’ve always seen things this way.”
And Doc Rivers recalls his record: an NBA title, 8th place in the regular season victory ranking, and 4th place for playoff victories. “My results don’t lie. I have been a coach for 25 years and I have only had two negative seasons. And in those two seasons, we were trying to lose. So I've made the playoffs 21 times in 25 years. That said, I want to do more. And to achieve more, you have to put yourself in situations where you will be criticized if you don't. And that doesn’t bother me.”
