Is Doc Rivers treated fairly by the basketball community?

Anyone who has followed the NBA for a sizeable length of time can tell you why Doc Rivers is one of the greatest coaches in basketball history, or why he’s not worth discussing for even two minutes. It’s rare that a coach elicits such a strong response from fans, and we’ll try to sift through the facts as it relates to Rivers’ career in the NBA. All statistics are from Basketball Reference unless otherwise noted.

Legacies are often defined in the NBA by how players and coaches operate in do-or-die Game 7. Medium’s Eli Robinson dispelled the notion that other contests in a serious are more important, and it’s easier to commit Game 7 performances to memory with so much on the line.

According to StatMuse, Rivers is 6-10 all-time as a coach in Game 7’s. Three of those six wins came in a two year span from 2007-2009, when he was the coach of the Boston Celtics. It’s fair to say that Rivers hasn’t had much success in those clutch tilts since then.

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In addition to the Game 7 figures, Rivers’ teams have blown 3-1 series leads three times in his career, according to Yahoo Sports. This happened twice in the last decade, as Rivers’ Los Angeles Clippers teams couldn’t seal the deal in 2015 against the Houston Rockets or in 2020 against the Denver Nuggets.

These are facts that Rivers detractors love to point to, and it seems reasonable to spotlight the failures in these spots.

Rivers has been asked about these in the past, and had reasoning for why each of them took place.

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He told Yahoo Sports that when the first instance happened in 2003 with the Orlando Magic, they were the eighth seed, and weren’t expected to win. In 2015, Rivers cited Chris Paul’s lingering injuries. In 2020, Rivers brought up the fact that the playoffs were played in a neutral site in the NBA’s bubble venue.

While the devil is always in the details, it is fair to wonder why Rivers’ teams couldn’t secure one more elusive win in those spots. As the common denominator in each situation, it’s a legitimate question.

The highest point of Rivers’ coaching career came when he led the Boston Celtics to the 2007-2008 NBA title. That team was dominant during the regular season, winning 66 games en route to the championship.

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While Boston had Hall of Famers like Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen on one roster, Rivers still had to get each of them to buy into his vision. Bleacher Report and others argue that this achievement shouldn’t be dismissed when discussing Rivers’ resume.

Additionally, the Celtics were in the mix to win one or two more titles at the end of that decade. Boston had to compete in the 2009 playoffs without Garnett, and lost in the second round to the Magic. In 2010, they made it back to the NBA Finals, only to lose to the Los Angeles Lakers on the road in Game 7.

Many fans may not realize that Doc Rivers has the eighth most wins of any coach in NBA history. There’s a real chance he might pass Phil Jackson on the all-time list in the next year. Rivers has more wins to his name than coaching legends like Larry Brown, Rick Adelman and Red Auerbach.

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Rivers was supposed to be on ABC’s lead announcing team in the 2023-2024 campaign, calling the NBA playoffs and NBA Finals. This role could have helped revive his legacy in NBA circles, as fans got to know him better on television. However, the job was short-lived.

In January 2024, Rivers took over head coaching duties for the Milwaukee Bucks mid-season, for a team that has legitimate championship aspirations. Given the high profile that he has, and the nature of the teams he’s coached in the past, Rivers may not satisfy critics unless he wins it all this year.

There are definitely aspects of Rivers’ body of work to pick at, and others that stand up throughout the course of NBA history. He probably doesn’t get the respect he deserves, but has also fallen flat in some crucial moments that has helped negatively shape the perception of him.

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How do you think Doc Rivers should be viewed in NBA circles? Let us know what you think in the comments section!