Doc Rivers has been an NBA head coach for over two decades, but when this season began, he found himself without a team for the first time since his coaching career began in the 1999-2000 season.
He had been fired by the Philadelphia 76ers after they blew a 3-2 series lead to the Boston Celtics, a team he coached back in the day, in the second round of the playoffs.
The Milwaukee Bucks ended up hiring him before the All-Star break, but his son Austin thought he perhaps could have coached the Celtics again in the future, per UNSPORTSMANLIKE Radio.
“I always thought before my father took that Bucks job, I thought he was gonna, if that didn’t work out in Boston, I thought that was a team he would head back and coach again,” Austin said.
Austin Rivers thought before his father took the Bucks HC job, that he would head back to Boston and coach the Celtics again 👀@AustinRivers25 via #USL with @EvCoRadio @ChrisCanty99 and @msmallmon | @ESPNMilwaukee @ESPNMadison #Boston #Celtics https://t.co/8U3gn4zsmb pic.twitter.com/nyuUl1KDyG
— UNSPORTSMANLIKE Radio (@UnSportsESPN) March 6, 2024
The Celtics have the NBA’s best record, but they aren’t unbeatable, and Tuesday’s alarming collapse in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers was a reminder.
They led by as many as 22 points in the period, but they then got buried in a barrage of 3-pointers while Jayson Tatum, their best player, seemingly went MIA as their lead dwindled.
The younger Rivers pointed out how if the Celtics don’t win the world championship or at least reach the NBA Finals, the season will be a failure for them, and how as a result, head coach Joe Mazzulla is under pressure.
The elder Rivers seems to be in a good situation in Milwaukee right now, as he has Giannis Antetokounmpo, one of the game’s very best players, at his side, not to mention the dangerous Damian Lillard and a solid supporting cast.
Milwaukee got off to a shaky start under the elder Rivers, but they now have a six-game winning streak and have climbed to second place in the Eastern Conference.
NEXT: Colin Cowherd Says NBA Team Is 'Becoming The Buffalo Bills'