Нейсмитийн сагсан бөмбөгийн алдрын танхимд багтаж буй Док Риверс нь лигийн түүхэн дэх хамгийн олон ялалт байгуулсан дасгалжуулагчдын нэг хэдий ч плей-оффын цуврал дахь бүтэлгүйтлүүдээсээ болж олон нийтийн шүүмжлэлийн бай болсоор байна.
Док Риверс энэ амралтын өдрүүдэд Нейсмитийн сагсан бөмбөгийн алдрын танхимд албан ёсоор залрах гэж байна. Сүүлийн 15 жилийн хугацаанд цахим орчинд түүнийг плей-офф дахь түүхэн уналтууд, хачирхалтай ишлэлүүд болон тактикийн алдаанаас нь болж хошигнол, мемийн гол бай болгон шүүмжилсээр ирсэн. Гэвч түүний карьерын статистик үзүүлэлтүүд нь үүний эсрэг дүр зургийг харуулж байна. 2010-2011 оны улирлаас хойш Риверс 744 ялалт байгуулсан нь Грегг Попович, Стив Керр, Рик Карлайл, Эрик Споестра нарын амжилтыг давж, тухайн үеийн NBA-ийн хамгийн олон хожилтой дасгалжуулагчаар тодорчээ.
Тэрээр 2008 онд Бостон Сэлтикс багийг удирдан аваргалж, “ubuntu” буюу “бид байгаа учраас би байна” гэх үзэл санаагаар багийн нэгдмэл байдлыг хангаж байв. Мөн Орландо Мэжик, Бостон Сэлтикс, Лос Анжелес Клипперс, Филадельфи 76ерс, Милуоки Бакс багуудыг удирдаж, лигийн бүх цаг үеийн шилдэг 15 дасгалжуулагчийн жагсаалтад багтсан юм. Риверс 1,194 хожилтойгоор NBA-ийн түүхэнд хамгийн олон хожил авсан дасгалжуулагчдын жагсаалтын зургаадугаарт бичигдэж, 58.0 хувийн хожлын үзүүлэлттэй байна.
Гэсэн хэдий ч плей-оффын цувралд 3-1-ийн харьцаатай тэргүүлж байгаад ялагдсан гурван тохиолдол нь түүнийг шүүмжлэлийн бай болгоход гол нөлөө үзүүлжээ. Тэрээр 2003 онд Орландо, 2015 болон 2020 онд Клипперс багийг удирдахдаа ийм уналтыг амссан бөгөөд энэ нь лигийн түүхэн дэх ийм төрлийн нийт уналтын 20 хувийг эзэлж байна. Риверс 2025 оны гуравдугаар сард өгсөн ярилцлагадаа өөрийг нь цувралд 3-1-ээр тэргүүлж чадсаныг нь биш, харин ялагдсаныг нь л онцолж байгаад сэтгэл дундуур байгаагаа илэрхийлжээ.
Милуоки Бакс багт ирснийхээ дараа түүний хэлсэн “Би үүнийг хэнд ч хүсэхгүй” гэсэн үг нь цахим орчинд дахин шүүмжлэл дагуулж, JJ Редик зэрэг хуучин тоглогчид нь түүнийг хариуцлага хүлээхээс зайлсхийж, багаа буруутгаж байна хэмээн шүүмжилсэн. Риверс Жоел Эмбиидийг өөрийн удирдаж байсан хамгийн авьяаслаг тоглогч хэмээн нэрлэж, тоглогчдодоо “Google-ээс хай” хэмээн өөрийн амжилтаа сануулах зэрэг нь түүнийг өнөөгийн нөхцөл байдалд асуудалтай дасгалжуулагчийн дүрээр харагдуулж байна. Түүний карьер нь тогтмол амжилт болон плей-оффын түүхэн уналтуудын хоорондох зөрчилтэй дүр зураг болон үлдэж байна.
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Doc Rivers is being enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend. If you looked at the internet and social media over the past 15 years, you’d never know Rivers was a Hall of Fame coach.
He has been the target of memes, jokes and commentary about historic collapses in the NBA playoffs. His quotes have been picked apart. His strategy has been dissected. His legacy has been tarnished time and time again by fans, pundits and even his own players. He has been the butt of the joke more often than he’s been the target of coaching praise.
With all that, you’d never know that, since the 2010-11 season, Rivers has the most coaching wins in the NBA. More than Gregg Popovich (676). More than Steve Kerr (604). More than Rick Carlisle (626). Even more than Erik Spoelstra (740). Rivers has 744 victories since 2010-11 while coaching fewer games (1,231) than Spoelstra (1,277) and Carlisle (1,279). Rivers is the winningest coach of the social media era … in the regular season.
The playoffs have been an entirely different scenario, and they are primarily where Rivers has drawn the most ridicule. But he won a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008 and was largely credited with bringing that group together under the “ubuntu” mantra — the idea of “I am because we are,” and it helped fuel the focus of that Celtics team led by Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. He helped bring the Clippers from a consistent punchline in the standings to regular-season successes. And he was even part of getting Donald Sterling out of the league.
Rivers’ career coaching the Orlando Magic (1999-2004), Celtics (2004-2013), Clippers (2013-2020), Philadelphia 76ers (2020-23) and Milwaukee Bucks (2023-26) earned him a place on the league’s top 15 coaches of all-time list a couple of years ago, and he’s had phenomenal success most coaches can only dream of having. Only five coaches in NBA history have more victories than Rivers’ 1,194 regular-season wins. Only Popovich (1,390), Don Nelson (1,335), Lenny Wilkens (1,332), Jerry Sloan (1,221) and Pat Riley (1,210) have more. He’s coached the fourth-most games in league history (2,060). Among coaches with at least 1,000 games on the sidelines, Rivers has the ninth-highest regular-season win percentage (58.0 percent).
A former staffer under Rivers said that he doesn’t feel Rivers gets as much credit as he should for his offensive creativity with X’s and O’s.
“I used to look at his play designs and think, ‘Oh, that puts the defense in a real tough spot,’” former Clippers video coordinator Mo Dakhil toldThe Athletic.
Doc Rivers draws up a play as guard Gary Trent Jr. locks in. (Stephen Lew / Imagn Images)
So why all of the jokes? Why the discounting of Rivers’ coaching legacy? Why does he feel more like a punching bag these days?
Because he kind of became that too. The feeling of “he brought it on himself” regarding criticisms of Rivers and his coaching career largely comes from the blown leads in playoff series.
Four franchises are tied for the record for most blown 3-1 leads in a playoff series: Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix and the Clippers. They each have two. Rivers has three of those as a coach. It happened in 2003 with Orlando and then 2015 and 2020 with the Clippers. There have been 15 blown 3-1 leads in league history, and Rivers’ teams account for 20 percent of them.
When Rivers was asked about the criticism of that record, he decided he publicly wanted the credit for getting up 3-1 in the series.
“No one tells a real story. And I’m fine with that. It’s unfair in some ways,” Rivers told Andscape in March 2025. “I don’t get enough credit for getting the three wins. I get credit for losing.”
That’s not exactly how this works. The collapse is worse than going up 3-1 in a seven-game affair. The internet clowned him for it because he made it an easy target.
Less than a year after being fired by the Sixers,Rivers worked his way into the Bucks’ head coaching position after Adrian Griffin was let go just three months into his tenure. Rivers was actually advising Griffin at times, and it led some people to wonder whether he set Griffin up for failure to get the position. After taking over a 30-13 Bucks team, Rivers had this infamous quote:
“I wouldn’t wish this on anybody. I could tell you that just from the day and a half. But it’s gonna be a challenge.”
The “I wouldn’t wish this on anybody” quote quickly became a meme on social media, being posted anywhere from waiting in line at the DMV to ordering the hottest level of spice at an authentic Thai restaurant. It also brought criticism from JJ Redick, Rivers’ former player with the Clippers who was then a TV analyst for ESPN.
“It’s always an excuse. It’s always throwing his team under the bus,” the future Lakers head coach said.
It was a damning accusation of zero accountability for a coach who was already underwater when it came to perception and current-day speculation about his coaching ability. That kind of criticism from someone who played for you is always going to confirm bias against you.
Remember when Rivers said Joel Embiid is the most talented player he’s ever coached? This wasn’t when he was the coach of the 76ers. It was during his Bucks stint, while Giannis Antetokounmpo was in trade rumors and we were headed toward a stalemate between Giannis’ availability to finish the season and the Bucks embracing tanking in the name of lottery odds.
Giannis’ Bucks career by the numbers
Or remember when Rivers told his Bucks players, “Google me,” as a way to have them remember that he knows how to coach? He said he takes teams to the playoffs and championships that aren’t supposed to be there. Except, you know, that Celtics team in 2008 was 100 percent supposed to be there and to win. Controlling the narrative, even at the cost of team chemistry, has become part of Rivers’ M.O. in his later coaching years because the past was the positive part and the present was the struggle.
Is any of this unfair? Probably. Can it still be warranted? Yes. That’s the dichotomy of Rivers as an NBA coach: successful in the regular season; responsible for getting a team to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy; and also responsible for great collapses and known for throwing guys under the bus and making excuses.
Rivers is a fascinating case study in what happens if you’re just around the game for “too long.” He has made incredible money and is high up in the record books. And yet, you probably can’t go a day on NBA-influenced social media without seeing a Rivers quote, infographic or GIF meme’ing something regarding his incredulous moments or incompetent performances.
The latter seems to overshadow the former, and maybe the balance shouldn’t be 50-50. Maybe the recent failures do outweigh a lot of the early successes, and Rivers will just have to accept the accolades and ignore the jokes at his expense. I don’t know if that’s actually possible for him. Regardless of the direction he goes in his enshrinement speech, I imagine he’ll provide us with more content to use.
