Doc Rivers turned down an offer to become an NBA analyst for NBC after retiring as a player in 1996 because he couldn't promise then-NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol that he wouldn't become a coach.
With Rivers now insisting that his Hall of Fame coaching career is over, the time seemed right for him to join NBC.
The network announced on Monday that Rivers will be an analyst on games this season across NBC, Peacock and NBCSN, along with the possibility for some studio work.
“I honestly can say I’m absolutely retired,” Rivers said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “I had a long run. It ended up in the (Naismith) Hall of Fame (earlier this year) and I am so thankful that I was able to coach and played as long as I did. For the first time, I can focus on giving TV my 100% attention, which I’m really looking forward to.
“I think I’ve always been pretty honest. I’ve always celebrated the game in general, but told the truth. I don’t think anyone has ever had a problem with honesty and the way you tell the truth. There are always times where you offend people because of the truth, but I’ve never really worried about that.”
Rivers is sixth on the NBA's career coaching list in wins (1,194) and games (2,059). In nine seasons with Boston, he led the Celtics to the NBA title in 2008 and returned to the finals two years later. Along with Boston and Orlando, Rivers coached the Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.
This will not mark the first time Rivers has worked with NBC. He was a studio analyst during the 2012 London Games and got to do other sports beside basketball, including handball.
“We couldn’t be happier to have him back on the NBC Sports team,” NBC sports executive producer and president Sam Flood said in a statement about Rivers. “Having led the Celtics to the 2008 NBA title with nearly four decades of NBA experience between coaching and playing, we are excited to add another Hall of Famer to our roster.”
Rivers was with Turner Sports for three years (1996-99) before beginning his coaching career with the Orlando Magic. He also had two stints with ESPN/ABC in 2003-04 and 2023. That included being on the top announcing team with Mike Breen and Doris Burke for the first couple months of the 2023-24 season before taking the Bucks job in January 2024.
“I don’t take a lot of breaks in my life. I’ve always been around the game and this is a way of keeping me there,” Rivers said. “When you think about it, I’ve played, I’ve coached, I’ve been in front office, I’ve done TV, I’ve done about everything you can do in our game. And that gives me an interesting perspective and hopefully I can share that with the viewers.”
Rivers also coached five players who became NBC analysts and played against Reggie Miller, NBC's lead analyst. Rivers, a point guard, played on four teams during his 12-year career.
He coached his son, Austin, and Jamal Crawford with the Clippers; Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady in Orlando; and Brian Scalabrine with Boston.
One of the funnier moments last season was Austin Rivers trying to interview his dad before a Milwaukee-Cleveland game.
“With this opportunity, one of the things I thought was I’d love to work with Austin. That would be a lot of fun to be able to work with him," Doc Rivers said. "It’s funny when you think about half the staff, I’ve either coached or been the father. I had a fight with Reggie, which is even funnier. So it’s pretty cool how connected I am to all the talent.”
NBC's coverage begins with three games on opening night, Oct. 20 — including Boston at Detroit and Oklahoma City vs. San Antonio. The marquee game that night will be the New York Knicks beginning their defense of the franchise's first NBA title since 1973 when they host Philadelphia in LeBron James' 76ers debut.
“When you add Giannis (Antetokounmpo) going to Miami, LeBron going to Philadelphia, Indiana getting healthy, Cleveland a whole year now with (James) Harden and (Donovan) Mitchell. The East is going to be rough this year. I mean, it’s very, very much top heavy in the East and it’ll be an interesting conference,” Rivers said. "The West, the top two teams are still the top two teams, San Antonio and Oklahoma. There’s two interesting teams. The Lakers, because they have Luka (Doncic) and Denver because they have (Nikola) Jokic, right? You can’t discount those teams.
"I think the much-watched team of the year will be Minnesota. It could go unbelievably well where (LaMelo) Ball and Ant (Anthony Edwards) figure it out and they play well or they could struggle. I mean, we just don’t know, but that’s a lot of talent on one team."
