Doc Rivers will coach NBA All-Star Game after one win with Bucks. How did that happen? – USA TODAY
Win and you’re in!
That’s what it took for Doc Rivers to be named the head coach of the East for the 2024 NBA All-Star Game.
The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Dallas Mavericks 129-117 on Saturday for Rivers’ first win coaching All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
The victory brought the Bucks to 33-16 on the season and locks the best-eligible record in the Eastern Conference ahead of the midseason break, giving Rivers the All-Star coaching job.
Milwaukee named Rivers its head coach just two weeks ago. The Bucks fired Adrian Griffin after 43 games.
The former ESPN commentator made his debut at the helm on Monday and lost to the defending champion Denver Nuggets. He then dropped a game against the Portland Trail Blazers in Lillard’s return.
“That is ridiculously bad,” Rivers told the media with a laugh after beating the Mavericks. “It really is. Well Adrian’s gonna get some money, that’s for sure. And a ring. It’s one of these quirky things. I think there should be a rule somehow that someone else does it other than me. Maybe I’ll send my staff and I’ll go on vacation.”
Technically, the Boston Celtics, at 37-12, have the best record in the conference. But head coach Joe Mazzulla was in charge of Team Giannis in last year’s All-Star game. The NBA doesn’t allow a coach to lead an All-Star team in consecutive seasons.
This season’s game, which will be held in Indianapolis for the first time since 1985, will return to the East vs. West format. The head coach of the West has not yet been determined.
Rivers won the 2008 NBA Finals when he was head coach of the Celtics and was an All-Star coach twice in his Boston tenure. When he was with the Philadelphia 76ers, he coached Team Durant in the 2021 matchup. His fourth time coaching an All-Star Game ties him with seven other coaches for fourth-most appearances in NBA history.
This isn’t the first time the phenomenon of a new coach participating in the All-Star game has occurred.
In 2016, the Cleveland Cavaliers fired head coach David Blatt when the team was 30-11 midway through his second season. Tyronn Lue was given the reins, coached the All-Star game and won the Finals.
— Contributing: Jeff Zillgitt, Jim Owczarski
