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Doc Rivers had long been one of the most controversial names in NBA coaching history. The man clearly knows how to put together a successful regular season campaign and has enough postseason prowess to have come away with one title in his career at the least.
And yet, despite all of the wins in his tenure — 59 win percentage in his career in the regular season, 51 in the playoffs — a quick search for his name in Twitter will show that he’s quickly become the face of mediocrity and complacency in the league.
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Although no one can ever take that title and what he accomplished with the 2007-2008 Boston Celtics away from him, it is rather alarming that despite all of the talent that he’s had at his disposal through the years, Rivers’s team has only advanced to the Finals twice and past the second round thrice.
While two Finals appearances and a title might be a lifetime guarantee for some people, the list of Hall-of-Famers that Rivers has coached makes his lack of sustained postseason success an ugly red flag.
Between the Celtics Big 3 plus Rajon Rondo, his Los Angeles Clippers teams with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and a large cast of high-level role players including DeAndre Jordan who made an All-NBA team under Doc, and his latest failures with Joel Embiid and James Harden, many fans, analysts, and pundits would say that Rivers has underperformed through his career as a head coach considering the sheer level of talent that was available to him.
It’s not just that he failed with those rosters, either; it’s how he failed with those teams that really make him out to be a postseason fader. Throughout his storied career, Rivers has established a reputation for blowing playoff series leads.
He’s blown multiple 3-1 advantages in the postseason and more 3-2 leads than any other coach in league history, his latest with the Philadelphia 76ers ultimately led to his dismissal and unemployment.
Doc Rivers Career Stats:
| STATS | GP | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | BLK | STL | PF | TO | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAREER | 864 | 27.3 | 44.4 | 32.8 | 78.4 | 3.0 | 5.7 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 3.1 | 1.9 |
10.9
|
Not only did he have James Harden and Joel Embiid relatively healthy and an entire entourage of high-level support pieces, but he also had a chance to win his semifinals bout with the Boston Celtics at home in Game 6.
He failed to do so and ultimately had his team embarrassed on national television on a holiday in a Game 7 that would have sent the Sixers to the conference finals.
There’s no telling how the NBA coaching carousel could end up spinning, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see that this past failure turns out to be the final straw in Rivers’s coaching career.
Breaking: The 76ers dismissed coach Doc Rivers, sources told @wojespn. pic.twitter.com/QNlLqWsCpj
— ESPN (@espn) May 16, 2023
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| Title: Has Doc Rivers run out of chances as an NBA Head Coach?
| Author: Andy Quach
| Date: May 15h, 2023
