HoopsHype.com Rumors

The mere mention of Shaq, even if he turns out to be something more than a courtesy candidate, surely (and sadly) overshadows the most interesting part of Broussard's notebook-on-TV report, which revealed that the Magic's secret dream is trying to find a way to convince Doc Rivers to leave the Boston Celtics to come back to Central Florida. ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, Doc Rivers, Shaquille O'Neal, Coaching 

Now THAT makes sense. It's the longest of long shots with Doc only just finishing Year 1 of a new five-year, $35 million contract to coach the Celts, but Orlando's thinking there is steeped in sound logic. If they could somehow convince Rivers to rejoin the Magic -- even if Doc insisted on a management-only role -- Dwight would surely be wowed. And the number of true stars in the Magic Kingdom would instantly double. ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, Doc Rivers, Shaquille O'Neal, Coaching 

Peter Stringer: Doc says he doesn't think Bradley will play but isn't ruling him out completely. Twitter

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Avery Bradley 

Ben Rohrbach: Stiemsma injured his foot again last night, Avery's 50-50 for tomorrow & Ray's ankle is still bothering him according to Rivers. Good times. Twitter

Boston Celtics, Ray Allen, Doc Rivers, Avery Bradley, Injuries, Greg Stiemsma 

“It’s just tough. It really is. I swear a lot of people would not be playing, and the only reason he is is because he wants to,” Doc Rivers said on Sunday before the team conducted practice. “I am concerned at some point that he (Bradley) may not be able to anymore. We don’t know what game that is, we don’t know what day he can finish it. We can keep going all the way and he can play [or] tomorrow could be his last game.” WEEI.com

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Avery Bradley, Injuries 

Peter Stringer: Doc on Bradley's shoulder injury: "A lot people would not be playing...it affects him defensively and he doesn't want to drive as much." Twitter

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Avery Bradley 

The new committee was hand-picked by Stern and consists of two owners, four GMs and three coaches. When they come up with rules changes, those will go directly to the 30 owners for their consideration and vote. The members are: owners Dan Gilbert (Cleveland) and Joe Lacob (Golden State); GMs Bryan Colangelo (Toronto), Mitch Kupchak (Lakers), Kevin O’Connor (Utah) and Sam Presti (Oklahoma City); and coaches Rick Carlisle (Dallas), Lionel Hollins (Memphis) and Doc Rivers (Boston). New York Daily News

Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Doc Rivers, Mitch Kupchak, CBA, Sam Presti, Bryan Colangelo, Dan Gilbert, Kevin O'Connor, David Stern, Joe Lacob, Lionel Hollins, Owners, Rick Carlisle 

Roland Lazenby: I guess the NBA suits are ok, but thank goodness we still have guys like Doc Rivers and Larry Bird. They'll both check out of the game soon Twitter

Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers, Doc Rivers, Coaching, Larry Bird 

Garnett came to Wells Fargo Center by himself to get some shots up on his team's day off Thursday, but Friday night's game proved that Garnett can't win this series by himself. If the superhero Garnett from Games 1 and 3 of the series doesn't show up, the Celtics center can't go it alone. "I don't know [what happened with Garnett]," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Friday night. "I never thought we established him. I thought he was a passer tonight, a lot. We've got to get him back in the middle of the paint." Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett 

Game 5 of the series will be Monday in Boston, and it guarantees that the Sixers will return to the Wells Fargo Center for Game 6 on Wednesday. "We just started hitting back," said guard Lou Williams. "They outworked us, and we lost our composure. It was that simple," said Boston coach Doc Rivers. "We had the lead, and we had the chance to go up 3-1. I think that from the first quarter on we didn't play with the same discipline. "We started turning the ball over and started trying to make home run passes. And even though we had the lead, I thought they chipped into it, and we allowed them to hang around in the game." Philadelphia Inquirer

Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Doc Rivers 

That run erased an 18-point (49-31) Celtics lead, and gave the Sixers renewed hope. Rondo, Garnett, Brandon Bass and Avery Bradley all fell into foul trouble, and the Celtics responded by falling back on their heels. “When you have a chance to go up 3-1 in a series and you’re up and you’re on the road, what else are they going to do?” said Doc Rivers. “That’s what they should do, and that’s what was so disappointing. They are going to get into you, they are going to grab your hands, they are going to foul you. That’s what they should do, but we acted like we were surprised by it, and I was disappointed in that. “Tonight it was a matter (of composure),” he said. “I don’t know about Game 1 and 2, but tonight it was that simple. We had the lead. We had a chance to go up 3-1. I really didn’t think from the first quarter on that we played with the same discipline that we had in the first quarter, in my opinion. We start turning the ball over. We start making home run passes, and even though we still had a lead, I thought they chipped into the lead and allowed them to hang around in the game.” Boston Herald

Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Doc Rivers, Avery Bradley, Brandon Bass 

Nevertheless, sources were indicating nine years ago that Rivers was on the hot seat. The whispers started when the Magic had a 1-4 record, which is hardly enough time to judge a coach who was juggling a roster with eight new players. Whispering sources can be intoxicating. There's nothing like being in the know, having the scoop. But if you don't question motives, you're being naive. As a 25-year-old trying to prove myself as a columnist, I fell into that trap. The Magic knew I would support the firing if I was kept in the loop. SI.com

Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, Doc Rivers, Coaching 

On Nov. 17, 2003, I wrote a column that carried the headline "From Hot To Hotheaded, Rivers Is About To Lose His Job." Shortly thereafter, Rivers was fired. Even if I hadn't written the column, he was gone. But Rivers shouldn't have been fired -- not that soon, not after doing quite a bit with very little for four seasons -- and while unfair firings happen all the time in professional sports, I didn't have to suggest it without giving it more thought. SI.com

Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, Doc Rivers, Coaching 

I'll never forget running into Rivers several days later at a Monday Night Football game in Tampa. It was the first time I'd seen him since the firing. He nodded and offered a terse, "Sit down." I gulped. We had a good conversation. Always professional and engaging, Rivers made his points in a cordial fashion. I told him that I could have handled his final days better and that I should have communicated better with him during the process. Rivers told me to avoid his wife, Kris, who was upset with me. But he was already coming to terms with what happened. SI.com

Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, Doc Rivers, Coaching 

The NBA on Wednesday announced the members of the league’s new competition committee, including Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor. The announcement follows a decision by the league’s board of governors last month to change the committee’s composition. The committee will now include two owners, four general managers, three head coaches and one representative from the NBA Players Association. Joining O’Connor are fellow GMs Bryan Colangelo (Toronto Raptors), Mitch Kupchak (L.A. Lakers) and Sam Presti (Oklahoma City); owners Dan Gilbert (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Joe Lacob (Golden State); and coaches Rick Carlisle (Dallas Mavericks), Lionel Hollins (Memphis Grizzlies), and Doc Rivers (Boston Celtics). Salt Lake Tribune

Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Doc Rivers, Mitch Kupchak, Sam Presti, Bryan Colangelo, Dan Gilbert, Joe Lacob, Lionel Hollins, Rick Carlisle, Golden State 

According to Doc Rivers, there is a need for the Celts to be precise. “You know, I don’t think we have a big margin of error,” said the coach. “We knew that coming into this whole playoff run with the bodies we have. We’ve got guys going in and out of games. Paul (Pierce) clearly is not 100 percent. We’re not going to run away from anybody.” Boston Herald

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers 

Doc Rivers, who is generally considered to be one of the most media-friendly and accessible coaches in the NBA, was just named the recipient of the Rudy Tomjanovich Award by the Professional Basketball Writers Association (PBWA). Boston Herald

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Rudy Tomjanovich 

Here’s a beginning number for the next series — 32. It was the Celtics’ worst loss of the season, and they suffered it on March 7 in Philadelphia by a 103-71 score. C’s coach Doc Rivers wasn’t counting on sleep last night. “Well, at least we don’t have to travel — we can look at it that way,” said Rivers, as his club will open up against the 76ers tomorrow night. “That’s not the greatest team to pick to play. They’ve got a bunch of gazelles coming in here. They only beat us by 1,000 in two of our three games. “So we’re going to meet (today) and go over it,” he said. “I can tell you right now that the key to the series is we can’t turn the ball over. If we do, it’s a guaranteed basket for them. Boston Herald

Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Doc Rivers 

A league source has confirmed that Rajon Rondo has been suspended one game for making contact with referee Marc Davis in the final minute of the Celtics’ Game 1 playoff loss to the Hawks. The NBA spoke with Rondo, coach Doc Rivers and others involved this morning before rendering its decision. According to a different source, the Celtics may be fortunate that the penalty will cost Rondo just the one game — tomorrow night’s Game 2 here. There was said to be serious consideration given to a longer penalty in that Rondo was aggressively moving toward the official to argue what he believed were two missed calls. Boston Herald

Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Rajon Rondo 

That doesn’t mean that everyone’s happy with the way this season went down. The compressed schedule raised serious concerns among coaches right from the start, and before the year, former coach Jeff Van Gundy called the 66-game slate a “money grab” by players and owners. Asked whether the schedule has worked out better or worse than he anticipated, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, “Worse. I just think a lot of teams have not been able to work on a lot of stuff, especially, I look at some of our young guys who might have been able to help us in an 82-game season, they’ve had zero practices. On the days that we do practice, it’s not as competitive as it would have been, and I think those guys have been robbed of a year in a lot of ways, the young guys. ... Execution, it has taken all year. I mean, we’re still working on it. It’s been hard that way. I didn’t anticipate it being this difficult.” Sporting News

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Schedule, Jeff Van Gundy