Doc Rivers

The University of Tennessee announced Wednesday that Pat Summitt will step down as head coach, a decision that has deeply affected many around the basketball community, including Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers. In Rivers' postgame press conference Wednesday evening after the Celtics beat the Orlando Magic, 102-98, the NBA coach paid tribute to the winningest coach in college basketball history.  Rivers choked back tears as made the following statement: "I want to finish with Pat Summitt.

A test of Celtics pride It's enough to make Ray Allen wonder whether he's got any game left. The veteran Boston Celtics sharpshooter recently lost his starting spot to Avery Bradley and then had to deal with the public disclosure of a failed trade involving Memphis guard O.J. Mayo . Allen was nearly sent to the Grizzlies last month in exchange for Mayo and a draft pick, though Celtics Coach Doc Rivers refuted one...

Lakers Coach Mike Brown and Celtics Coach Doc Rivers face many of the same challenges this season. Both are dealing with an aging veteran roster. Both are coaching a team that faces uncertainty whether their core lineup will be broken up before the March 15 trade deadline. Neither team is hardly dominating their respective conferences. The Lakers (24-16) are fourth in the Western Conference, while Boston (21-18) reamains seventh in the East. But here's one difference: Rivers says he can't fathom having to handle what Brown's been dealt.

The University of Tennessee announced Wednesday that Pat Summitt will step down as head coach, a decision that has deeply affected many around the basketball community, including Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers. In Rivers' postgame press conference Wednesday evening after the Celtics beat the Orlando Magic, 102-98, the NBA coach paid tribute to the winningest coach in college basketball history.  Rivers choked back tears as made the following statement: "I want to finish with Pat Summitt.

Doc Rivers agreed to a five-year contract extension that would not only give him another run at an NBA title as coach of the Celtics, but also could keep him in Boston to help rebuild the franchise when the Big Three era is done. "I think Doc is the best coach in the league. So it's great for us," General Manager Danny Ainge said. "There's nobody I'd rather have as my coach than Doc. " Rivers' contract was set to expire — he had an option for next season — and he said after the Celtics were eliminated by the Miami Heat on Wednesday night that he was "leaning heavily" toward coming back.

Sixers All-Star forward Andre Iguodala reflected on the pressures of the pro game: "I think it weighs on any basketball player when they are not playing and they think they should be playing," he said. "Some guys, they go to a vice or they go to something that not only hinders their game but it hinders their health overall. Guys can drink; guys can go to drugs. That's the part of the league that people don't see. " After Philadelphia blew past Boston, 103-71, Celtics Coach Doc Rivers was asked about the 76ers' showboating: "If I was a player and I was in and I had a 40-point lead, and I could get a dunk, I'm getting a dunk.

Reporting from Boston ? Basketball ? sure. Everyone knows what Blake Griffin is capable of doing on the court. Or at the hoop. Celtics Coach Doc Rivers got a closer look at the prized Clippers rookie during All-Star weekend and signaled his approval of the way the power forward operates. As is the custom now, every opposing coach is asked at least one question about Griffin before any Clippers game and it was no different here Wednesday. "He's just going to keep getting better," Rivers said.

Flu victim Doc Rivers was sick at halftime and fell asleep in the Clippers' locker room. He tried to watch the overtime from the sideline but lasted only a few minutes before heading back inside. "I could hear the announcer," Rivers said. "It was really neat to hear 'Grant for three' and 'Grant for two.' I could tell by the crowd noise how things were going. There wasn't too much at the end of OT. That was a great sound--the quiet."

Draft day became a labor day for the Clippers, who Wednesday made seven personnel decisions and finally traded for a veteran point guard, a move months in the making. An expected three-way deal with Atlanta and Denver broke down when the Clippers pulled out rather than wait until the draft started at about 4:30 p.m. PDT.

A test of Celtics pride It's enough to make Ray Allen wonder whether he's got any game left. The veteran Boston Celtics sharpshooter recently lost his starting spot to Avery Bradley and then had to deal with the public disclosure of a failed trade involving Memphis guard O.J. Mayo . Allen was nearly sent to the Grizzlies last month in exchange for Mayo and a draft pick, though Celtics Coach Doc Rivers refuted one...

Lakers Coach Mike Brown and Celtics Coach Doc Rivers face many of the same challenges this season. Both are dealing with an aging veteran roster. Both are coaching a team that faces uncertainty whether their core lineup will be broken up before the March 15 trade deadline. Neither team is hardly dominating their respective conferences. The Lakers (24-16) are fourth in the Western Conference, while Boston (21-18) reamains seventh in the East. But here's one difference: Rivers says he can't fathom having to handle what Brown's been dealt.

Sixers All-Star forward Andre Iguodala reflected on the pressures of the pro game: "I think it weighs on any basketball player when they are not playing and they think they should be playing," he said. "Some guys, they go to a vice or they go to something that not only hinders their game but it hinders their health overall. Guys can drink; guys can go to drugs. That's the part of the league that people don't see. " After Philadelphia blew past Boston, 103-71, Celtics Coach Doc Rivers was asked about the 76ers' showboating: "If I was a player and I was in and I had a 40-point lead, and I could get a dunk, I'm getting a dunk.

Regime change in Lakerdom … If there's more going on than finding Phil Jackson's successor — which should go better after having gone through it before — the Lakers formally started their coaching search Tuesday when General Manager Mitch Kupchak met with Jerry and Jim Buss. Actually, at this crossroads, whoever runs the team, be it all three … or Jim and Mitch … or just Jim … means more than the coach, but they still need one. First, of course, they had to figure out the candidates.

Ready or not, we'll take that torch, Gramps. Grizzled, battered, headed for the junk heap of NBA history, the Lakers and Boston Celtics just left us forever.... or until training camp, whichever comes first. By then they'll be totally different, or would be if not for nuances like guarantees, contracts and the salary cap. "You can't blow this team up," Jerry West said of the Lakers to Dan Patrick. "Nobody wants very many of their players, to be honest. " NBA owners actually demanded the right to blow their rosters up in the new labor deal but dropped it in the recent peace offensive.

Doc Rivers agreed to a five-year contract extension that would not only give him another run at an NBA title as coach of the Celtics, but also could keep him in Boston to help rebuild the franchise when the Big Three era is done. "I think Doc is the best coach in the league. So it's great for us," General Manager Danny Ainge said. "There's nobody I'd rather have as my coach than Doc. " Rivers' contract was set to expire — he had an option for next season — and he said after the Celtics were eliminated by the Miami Heat on Wednesday night that he was "leaning heavily" toward coming back.

The Lakers have to fill a very big void now that Coach Phil Jackson is walking away into retirement — again. The decision on the new Lakers coach will be made by owner Jerry Buss, his son Jim Buss, the team's executive vice president of player personnel, and General Manager Mitch Kupchak. The Lakers can only hope this hire turns out better than the last time they replaced Jackson. The Lakers hired Rudy Tomjanovich as coach, but he lasted only 41 games into the 2004-05 season before leaving because of health problems.

"They're not in the casket yet, although I wouldn't mid seeing them there." Doc Rivers, Orlando Magic coach, on the Miami Heat's playoff chances.

Bad day in Lakerdom/Celtic Nation. Today, Lakers and Celtics fans are one. Yeah, right. As if we share anything with rage-displacing lowlifes within two degrees of separation from Archie Bunker . . . or front-running poseurs paying $200 for valet parking in the hope of being mistaken for Jack Nicholson? I mean it as President Danny Glover did in the movie "2012," somberly informing Americans the world was ending: "Today, none of us are strangers.

But check with me tomorrow New York's Amare Stoudemire , on the Knicks' struggles: "We're staying together, we're still focused. We're not quite panicking. " You talking to me? New York Coach Mike D'Antoni , who privately opposed the Carmelo Anthony trade, on the Knicks' and Nuggets' differing directions: "We were going well on a team that was playing a certain way and in the playoffs, and they [the Nuggets] were kind of up and down because of the situation that was there.