Best rebuild ever? Doc Rivers praises Boston Celtics' turnaround
Can we assume Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers wishes he was back in Boston? No.
Can we think he's envious of the foundation the Celtics have built since his 2013 departure? Yes.
Rivers, who led the Celtics to two NBA Finals and one championship during his nine-year tenure, praised the job Danny Ainge and the front office have done over the past four years, transforming the franchise from Eastern Conference bottom feeder to title contender.
“I mean, I think Cleveland and them are obviously the two teams to beat in the East, but this tells you why I think Danny and I were successful together, and it’s why Danny and (head coach) Brad (Stevens), they’ll be successful, is because they’re never scared to make moves or changes,” Rivers said in a recent interview with the Boston Herald. “You think about it, they won the East last year and they have six or seven or eight new players, and they really have changed their identity. No Avery (Bradley), no (Jae) Crowder, that’s their heart and soul of their defense.
“They went out and got talent, man. That’s gonna show. I think what they’ve really done, to me, what they didn’t have in the past, and I think every team has to have it, you have to have closers. You can be as good as you want to be, and at the end of the game you need to have guys who are going to close the game for you. Now they have those. I don’t know if they’ve had that in the past, and now they do.”
Those closers, of course, are All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, who Boston acquired via trade and free agency this summer.
“My love for (the Celtics) hasn’t changed,” Rivers told the Herald. “For me, it was time for me to change. When you’re somewhere for nine years, you don’t think whether it’s the right or wrong decision, you think it’s the right decision for you at that time. But as far as wanting them to do well, that will never change. Unless they’re playing me.
“Other than that, love Danny, love (co-owner Steve Pagliuca), that whole group, and I just want them to do well. I really do. I love what they’ve done. I think the turnaround in four years starting with hiring Brad and then going from … (Ainge) and (assistant general manager) Mike Zarren have done the best job I’ve seen in sports in a long, long time of rebuilding. Maybe ever.”
Rivers, meanwhile, has a rockier road ahead of him.
The Clippers have won 50-plus games in each season during his tenure, but haven't advanced past the second round of the playoffs. Rivers, who also served as the team's president of basketball operations, was relieved of his front office duties last month and will now focus primarily on his role as the team's head coach — a role that will test his talent now that three starters (Chris Paul, JJ Redick and Luc Mbah a Moute) have gone elsewhere.
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