Los Angeles (AFP) – Doc Rivers, who guided the Boston Celtics to the 2008 NBA title, has reached an agreement in principle to coach the Milwaukee Bucks, ESPN reported on Wednesday.
Rivers, 62, is currently working as an ESPN NBA commentator, a job he began after he was fired as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers in the wake of their playoff exit at the hands of the Celtics last May.
Multiple US media outlets reported Tuesday that the Bucks were targeting Rivers after the team stunningly sacked head coach Adrian Griffin — who was dismissed with the team ranked second in the Eastern Conference standings.
Griffin, 49, had been appointed in June after the Mike Budenholzer was unceremoniously ditched after the Bucks crashed out of the playoffs in the first round.
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ESPN said the Bucks and Rivers “negotiated deep into Tuesday night and Wednesday morning before reaching agreement on a deal”.
Rivers has guided teams to 16 straight winning seasons since he won the title with the Celtics in 2008.
However, he carries some playoff baggage having seen his teams toppled four times when leading a series 3-2.
Rivers-coached teams have won only six of 16 playoff game sevens played.
ESPN reported that the Bucks, who won the NBA title in 2021, believe Rivers has the experience to coach the team’s star duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, who was recruited in the off-season to form an All-Star duo that could propel them back to the top.
Rivers has history in Milwaukee, where he was an All-American guard for Marquette University in the early 1980s.
“We wish Doc well and we look forward to documenting the next chapter of his coaching career,” David Roberts, ESPN’s head of event and studio production, said in a statement.
Rivers, who joined the 76ers in 2020, has also coached the Los Angeles Clippers, Celtics and the Orlando Magic.
After winning the title with Boston in 2008 he led the Celtics to the finals again in 2010.
His last appearance in a conference final was in 2012 with Boston, when they fell to eventual champions Miami.
