Glenn “Doc” Rivers celebrates his 62nd birthday on October 13th.
This former professional basketball player, coach, and current analyst for ESPN started his basketball story at Proviso East High School in the Chicago metro area as a McDonald’s All-American. Earning his nickname for wearing a Julius Erving “Dr. J” shirt while attending a Marquette University summer basketball camp, Doc Rivers would end up attending Marquette, playing college ball with them between 1980 and 1983. While at Marquette, he was selected to play on the U.S. national team in the 1982 FIBA World Championship, taking the team to win the silver medal, and earning himself the FIBA World Cup MVP award. After his third season of college basketball, he was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks and still completed his senior year at Marquette while in the NBA.
For his first 8 seasons, he stayed with the Atlanta Hawks, averaging 12.9 points, 6.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game over those 8 years. In 1988 he was selected as one of the all-stars for the NBA All-Star Game, and in 1990 he received the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award. In 1991, he was sent to the Los Angeles Clippers for one season, followed by two years playing for the New York Knicks and another two for the San Antonio Spurs. After the 1996 season, Doc Rivers retired, averaging 10.9 points, 5.7 assists, and 3 rebounds a game throughout his career.
After a brief break from the NBA, Rivers returned as a head coach for the Orlando Magic from 1999 to 2003. In that time frame, he won Coach of the Year in 2000 for taking the projected last Magic to the brink of a playoff berth. Over the next three seasons, the Magic made the playoffs, only for Rivers to be fired in 2003 for leading the team to a 1-10 start. After taking the year to do commentary for the NBA on ABC, Rivers was hired by the Boston Celtics in 2004, where he would stay until 2013. In his time as the head coach of the Celtics, he led the team to an NBA Championship in 2008, took them to the finals again in 2010 where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in 7, and coached the East at the All-Star Game in 2008 and 2011. From there, he went on to coach for his old team the L.A. Clippers from 2013 until 2020, followed by coaching the Philadelphia 76ers between 2020 and 2023. Rivers was fired after losing in Game 7 of the conference semifinals to the Boston Celtics, leaving him currently team-less, but not jobless, as he is on the lead broadcasting team for ESPN. As of now, Rivers has a career win count of 1,097 making him the 9th most winningest head coach in NBA history, and is regarded as one of the top 15 coaches selected for the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
Check out some highlights throughout his career below.
