Doc Rivers Admits Almost Turning Down Celtics Head Coaching Job
In 2003, Doc Rivers was fired by the Orlando Magic after a 1-10 start to the season, and thanks to Danny Ainge, the former NBA coach landed in Boston instead of taking a year off.
In an upcoming episode of “KG Certified” with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, Rivers explained how he almost didn’t become the head coach of the Celtics.
“I was gonna turn down the Celtics job,” Rivers told Garnett and Pierce. “I had just left Orlando … I wanted a year, and Danny calls me and said, ‘Hey can we talk?'”
River explained that not only was Ainge outside of his home, but he had the owners of the Celtics — H. Irving Grousbeck, Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca, with him.
“He comes in, and we’re sitting there, and I’m like, there’s a boss move,” Rivers explained.
The former Celtics bench boss said the group was discussing college players when he brought up the name Tony Allen. Suddenly, the owners broke into laughter. They informed Rivers that Ainge had also talked about Allen being a player he’d love to get.
“That made me say, ‘Oh, man, we’re connected,'” Rivers said. “That’s a true story. So, we’re connected because Tony was, he was wow.”
Rivers not only took the job that he considers the “best years of his life” but won his only NBA championship with Boston when the Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in 2008.
The full episode featuring Rivers drops on Friday.