Doc Rivers is officially a Hall of Famer. The former Boston Celtics head coach was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026, alongside eight other basketball figures, including Candace Parker and Amar’e Stoudemire.
The ceremony was made even more special by the presence of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, the Big Three Rivers coached to the 2008 NBA championship. Before his speech, the former coach joked that bringing the three former Celtics together for the occasion might have been his “last great coaching feat.”
Rivers then dedicated one of the most significant moments of his speech to them: “When you win a title, it’s like receiving a blood transfusion. You three guys are connected for the rest of your lives — you really are. And I want you guys to hear that, and understand that.”
The 2008 championship represents one of the highlights of Rivers’ coaching career. With 1,194 wins, he currently ranks sixth on the NBA’s all-time coaching wins list. During his speech, however, he also recalled a more personal experience: coaching his son Austin with the Los Angeles Clippers from 2015 to 2018.
“I am positive that you thought I was harder on you than everybody else… We were talking one time, and you said it was okay, because you knew it was coming from a loving place,” Rivers recalled. “And I thought, ‘damn, that’s the trick.’ If you can be a coach and coach your players hard, and they know it comes from a loving place, you can be really successful in this business. So thank you for teaching me that.”
Rivers closed his speech with a short but meaningful message: “My Mom was right — I’m right where I’m supposed to be. Ubuntu. Thank you guys.”
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