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Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). An NBA player for 14 seasons, he was an NBA All-Star and was named one of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History. Rivers played college basketball for the Marquette Golden Eagles and was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the 1983 NBA draft. He played point guard for the Hawks from 1983 to 1991 and was later a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, and San Antonio Spurs. Rivers was an All-Star with the Hawks in 1988. After retiring as a player in 1996, Rivers began his NBA coaching career. He was the head coach of the Orlando Magic from 1999 to 2003, the Boston Celtics from 2004 to 2013, the Los Angeles Clippers from 2013 to 2020, and the Philadelphia 76ers from 2020 to 2023. Rivers was named the 2000 NBA Coach of the Year in his first season with the Magic and won an NBA championship with the Celtics in 2008. He was also an analyst for ESPN. High school and college career Rivers was a McDonald's All-American for Proviso East High School in the Chicago metropolitan area. He was given his nickname while attending a summer basketball camp at Marquette University while wearing a "Dr. J" t-shirt of Philadelphia 76ers player Julius Erving. Rivers has alternated on whether the nickname originated from Golden Eagles head coach Al McGuire or assistant Rick Majerus. Rivers later played college ball for Marquette, and played on the U.S. national team in the 1982 FIBA World Championship, in which he led the team to the silver medal, after missing the last shot in the final. After his third season at Marquette, Rivers was drafted in the second round (31st overall) of the 1983 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks. He graduated from Marquette by completing course work while he was an active NBA player. Professional playing career After three seasons at Marquette, Rivers entered the NBA draft and was a second-round choice of the Atlanta Hawks. Rivers played point guard for the Atlanta Hawks from 1983 to 1991, assisting star Dominique Wilkins as the team found great regular season success. Rivers' first NBA start was against Julius Erving (Dr. J), who referred to Rivers as "Doc" and "made [him] feel like a million bucks". On March 4, 1986, Rivers recorded a career-high 21 assists in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers. He averaged a double-double for the 1986–87 season with 12.8 points and 10.0 assists per game. In 1988, Rivers played in the NBA All-Star Game. He received the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 1990. After 8 seasons with the Hawks, Rivers remains their all-time leader in assists with 3,866. Rivers later spent one year as a starter for the Los Angeles Clippers (1991–1992), two years playing for the New York Knicks (1992–1994), and two years playing for the San Antonio Spurs (1994–1996). Rivers retired after the 1996 season. During his professional career, Rivers would go on to play 864 regular-season games in which he averaged 10.9 points, 5.7 assists, and 3 rebounds per game. Coaching career Orlando Magic (1999–2003) Rivers began his coaching career with the Orlando Magic in 1999, where he coached for more than four NBA seasons. Rivers won the Coach of the Year award in 2000 after his first year with the Magic. Despite having been picked to finish last in that year's standings, Rivers led the Magic close to a playoff berth. During the Magic's free agency spending spree in the summer of 2000, Rivers tried to assemble a "Big Three" team in the NBA. The Magic were courting free agent Tim Duncan, who came close to signing with the Magic and teaming up with fellow stars Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady. However, Duncan re-signed with the San Antonio Spurs due to Rivers' strict policy of family members not being allowed to travel in the team's plane. The Magic made the postseason in Rivers's next three years as head coach, but he was fired in 2003 after a 1–10 start to the season. Boston Celtics (2004–2013) After spending a year working as a commentator for the NBA on ABC (calling the 2004 Finals with Al Michaels), he was hired by the Boston Celtics as their head coach in 2004. During his first years with the Celtics, he was criticized by many in the media for his coaching style, most vociferously by Bill Simmons, who in 2006 publicly called for Rivers to be fired in his columns. As a result of the Celtics' 109–93 victory over the New York Knicks on January 21, 2008, Rivers, as the coach of the team with the best winning percentage in the Eastern Conference, earned the honor to coach the East for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans. On June 17, 2008, Rivers won his first and sole NBA Championship as a head coach after defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. The Celtics needed an NBA record 26 postseason games to win it. Rivers played for the team that held the previous record for most games played in a single postseason when the New York Knicks played in 25 postseason games during 1994. Rivers led the Celtics to the 2010 NBA Finals, where they once again faced the Los Angeles Lakers, this time losing the series in seven games. After deliberating between staying on the job or returning to Orlando in order to spend more time with his family, Rivers finally decided that he would honor the last year of his contract and return for the 2010–11 season. On May 13, 2011, after months of rumors that he would retire, ESPN reported that the Celtics and Rivers had agreed upon a 5-year contract extension worth $35 million. On February 6, 2013, Rivers notched his 400th win with the Celtics in a 99–95 victory over the Toronto Raptors. Los Angeles Clippers (2013–2020) On June 25, 2013, the Los Angeles Clippers acquired Rivers from the Celtics for an unprotected 2015 NBA first-round draft pick. He also became the senior vice president of basketball operations on the team. In his first season as their head coach, Rivers led the Clippers to a franchise-record 57 wins, garnering the 3rd seed in the Western conference. The 2014 NBA playoffs first round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors was marred when TMZ released an audiotape containing racially insensitive remarks made by the then-Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Though there was a possibility of the Clippers boycotting the series, they instead played on, instead holding a silent protest by leaving their shooting jerseys at center court and obscuring the Clippers logo on their warm-up shirts. Rivers himself stated that he would not return to the Clippers if Sterling remained as owner the following season. NBA commissioner Adam Silver responded to the controversy by banning Sterling from the NBA for life and compelling him to sell the team. The team was sold to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion on August 12, 2014, and Rivers remained with the Clippers. On June 16, 201.... Discover the A Rivers popular books. Find the top 100 most popular A Rivers books.