Doc Rivers has been profoundly connected with the NBA, as he was also the former head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.
However, the former coach is making a comeback not on the court but in the broadcast booth.
The network, ESPN, also announced in August that they were planning to have Doc Rivers for the commentary section.
According to Pro Football Talk, Rivers is part of the network’s NBA broadcast team. He will be joined by Doris Burke and Mike Breen.
The team will commence their work when the New York Knicks host the Boston Celtics.
He was with the network in 2003–2004; it was his first appearance with ESPN. During a recent conference call with ESPN, Rivers disclosed his reason for appearing again with the network.
Rivers expressed, “This is something — when I was a player, I studied it,” he said. “I worked at Turner in the summertime as an intern. This is something I really enjoy doing. I love basketball, and I like being around it and I like talking about it, and I want people to enjoy it and learn it.”
When Rivers was a player, he played as a guard for more than three different clubs. Later in his career, he embraced his time as a coach when he guided two teams; one of them won an NBA title. Subsequently, his long-term career in the NBA makes him a wonderful fit for his upcoming stint as a commentator as well.
Rivers further added, “I’m going to be honest,”
“Sometimes that can be critical. But as long as it’s honest and coming from the right place, I’ve always been able to live with that. You learn that in coaching. In coaching, you’re in a leadership position, and the one thing you know in a leadership position is you’re going to say things that sometimes people don’t like.”
“It’s going unpopular at times, but at the end of the day, I really want people to enjoy the game. That’s what I’m in here for, to try to show the audience things that they may not see, to look at it.”
ESPN’s Doc Rivers vows to give unvarnished NBA analysis https://t.co/Yc32AqeM4C pic.twitter.com/QyjYHJ0DBC
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 23, 2023
When Rivers was asked what he thought about coming back to coaching the teams, he expressed, “Don’t know,”
“I really don’t. Listen, this is my first time in a long time that I haven’t been in a training camp. I went to Paris this summer. I went to Ireland this summer. I went to the Vineyard this summer. I went to the Hamptons twice this summer. I played in golf tournaments in New Jersey. I’ve done a lot of things that I’ve never been able to do over the last 20 years, and yeah, I’ve enjoyed it.
“Do I miss coaching? I don’t know yet. I think let the season go on, and I’ll find that out. But this is the journey I’m on right now.”
