Bucks' Doc Rivers Making Hall of Fame 'A No Brainer,' Claims Rival HC

Courtney Tate | 20 Hours Ago

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The nominees for the 2025 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame are in, and there are several notable standout names who are eligible to be inducted in. Some of those names include Carmelo Anthony, Maya Moore, Sue Bird, Dwight Howard, and Marc Gasol.

Another standout nominee is longtime NBA coach Doc Rivers. Rivers boasts an extensive resume beginning his career playing point guard for a number of competitive NBA teams. Rivers spent time with the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, and the New York Knicks. He was known for his lock-down defensive leadership as a floor general.

The experience Rivers gained as a player helped jumpstart his career as a coach. He got his start with the Boston Celtics where he spent nine years as head coach.

Rivers led one of the most memorable teams featuring other future Hall-of-Famers Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, and Ray Allen. Rivers led this team to an NBA championship in 2008 and another NBA Finals in 2010, forever cementing his legacy in Boston.

Rivers would go on to comprise a coaching career spanning over 26 seasons with teams including the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Clippers, and Philadelphia 76ers. He’s currently the head coach for the Milwaukee Bucks, having just led this team to an NBA Cup Championship. Rivers spent 13 seasons in the NBA as a player and earned an All-Star selection in 1988.

Rivers spoke on his reaction to being nominated for the Basketball Hall of Fame reflecting on his experience with the NBA.

"It means a lot. It means that I'm old. It means that I've done good work in the league. To be mentioned is humbling. Other than that, I don't like talking about it because we're in the middle of the season. That's where my head is at, but it means a lot, obviously."

He continued, "I think it's hard to look back on anything you've accomplished when you're still trying to accomplish because that's your focus. That's probably where I'm at right now."

Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyron Lue shared his excitement for Coach Rivers, as Lue got his coaching start under him in Boston.

“I mean, that's a no-brainer,” Lue told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “Someone who gave me my first opportunity to be a coach saw the coach in me, which I didn't even see and didn't think I would be in this position. I owe a lot of it to Doc. Just for giving me my first opportunity. Him and Danny Ainge, being able to study Doc from an offensive standpoint, just [after time outs] and how he did it, how he handled the media on tough losses and bad games. I would go into the back of the room and just kind of see how he handled certain situations and then just use him for a lot of advice as well to get to this point. As far as a Hall of Famer, that's a no-brainer.”

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