Despite his vast experience as a NBA coach, Doc Rivers divides opinion with his post-season record.
The current Milwaukee Bucks coach has some near-misses to regret during his coaching career, with his teams blowing three separate 3-1 Playoff series leads.
Reflecting on all of these, Doc Rivers still couldn’t understand the notion behind all the scathing criticism he has endured.
“It is what it is,” Rivers told Andscape. “It’s part of my legacy. There’s nothing I can do about it. I got a team that was an eight seed up 3-1. That is coaching. That is not bad coaching.
“The one with the Clippers is the only one that got away. But people don’t realize that Chris Paul was running on one leg [in 2015 with the Clippers] and we were also the underdog in that series. When you think about it, Houston had home court, not us.”
Doc Rivers defends himself from blowing multiple 3-1 Playoff series leads from the past
Rivers was at the forefront of three infamous 3-1 choke jobs in NBA Playoff history, the only coach to own this awful distinction.
In 2003, he and his No. 8 Orlando Magic squad were on the cusp of pulling a stunning upset against the top-seeded Detroit Pistons, only to lose the rest of the first-round series after going up with a convincing 3-1 lead.
The same occurrence took place in 2015 for Rivers as he and the Los Angeles Clippers crumbled in their second-round battle against James Harden and the Houston Rockets.
And after five years, the curse appeared yet again for Rivers as his Clippers squad led by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George demonstrated an embarrassing meltdown as Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference Finals in the NBA Bubble, ultimately prompting the franchise to dismiss him from his head coaching duties.
Despite all of these humiliating downfalls, Rivers calls it “unfair” that he isn’t obtaining any credit for getting three wins in all of those seven-game series. As such, he also takes pride for not being swept yet throughout his coaching career.
“No one tells a real story,” Rivers argued. “And I’m fine with that. It’s unfair in some ways. I don’t get enough credit for getting the three wins. I get credit for losing. I always say, ‘What if we had lost to Houston in six?’ No one cares.
“One of the things that I’m proud of is we’ve never been swept. All the coaches have been swept in the playoffs. My teams achieve. A lot of them overachieve and I’m very proud of that.”
Fans react to Doc Rivers comments
Rivers’ comments already went viral around the NBA social media, sparking hilarious reactions amongst basketball fans.
“A leader gives credit but takes blame,” a fan said. “Doc Rivers is one of the least aware coaches I’ve seen in sports, I don’t know how he convinces these owners to hire him year after year.”
“Every 6 months he comes out with an insecure statement that he didn’t need to say,” a random one argued.
Another fan stated: “Classic Rivers. Do I hold myself accountable for letting a series slip away with failures to adjust? Nah it’s everyone else’s fault.”
“Dude him and PG really belong together,” a fan offered. “Should start a tv series called accountability or something.”
“I too, have never been swept in an NBA playoff series,” an NBA faithful also added.
Being one of the winningest coaches ever in both regular season and playoffs while being the guide of the Boston Celtics’ 2008 championship, Rivers is a future Hall of Famer.
Yet as it is, more recent history will continue to judge him after all of the disappointments and missed opportunities he had in securing more coaching milestones.