Doc Rivers Stays In Boston

By: Tyler Ward

The Celtics announced earlier today that Head Coach Doc Rivers will return to Boston. The decision was sent to the Boston Herald earlier this afternoon. Rivers sent a text message to the Boston Globe that said, "I want another crack at it with this group".

Rivers said a few days ago that he wasn't sure if he wanted to return to Boston or not. He had made public that he wanted to spend more time with his children and watch them grow up. Rivers is in San Antonio right now, watching his son, Austin, play in a U-18 basketball tournament. His son is supposed to be one of the best U-18 players in the nation.

Returning to the Celtics for his seventh season, Rivers has a career coaching record of 451-380 and a 46-40 playoff record. With Boston, he is 280-212 with a 41-30 playoff record. Rivers started his coaching career in 1999 with the Orlando Magic. After the 99-00 season, Rivers was named Coach of the Year after his first season in Orlando. He guided the Magic to the postseason the next three seasons (all 1st round losses), but was fired in 2003 due to a poor start to the season. After spending a year in commentating for ABC, Rivers was hired be the Celtics to become their next Head Coach. Rivers helped guide the Celtics to their 17th championship in the 2007-08 season. The Celtics made another Finals appearance since his hiring, but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this month. The 2010-11 season could be the Celtics' last shot at winning a title for now, due to the seasons piling up for Garnett, Pierce, and Allen. It was publically known that the players and management wanted Rivers to return to the bench for Boston. Pierce was perhaps the leader of the task and heavily lobbied for Rivers to come back. Doc Rivers even stated that he and General Manager, Danny Ainge, were really good friends. When asked about the lobbying of a return, Rivers said, "You look around the league and you don't see that. They've been doing their jobs, I'll put it that way. So have the players. They've been very vocal in their support. But, that's good. We're very close."

I think Rivers' return will mean that both free agents, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, will come back to the team. With playoff-seasoned veterans and a corps of young players, the Celtics can still be a top team in the East for the 2010-11 season. Without Garnett and Allen, the Celtics were mediocre at best and couldn't compete consistently in the NBA. With both players, they have been in the upper echelon of Eastern Conference teams for the last three seasons. Rivers has done a great job leading the team and making valuable team decisions. This could very well be the Celtics' best signing of the off-season. Even though this may be Rivers' last year in Boston, they could still be a very competitive team.