Gary Washburn: I think Doc stays
Will it still be this familiar face leading the huddle?
On an interview with WEEI this morning, Gary Washburn said he expects Doc Rivers to stay on as head coach of the Boston Celtics.
“I think he stays,” Washburn said. “You don’t get that year back. You could coach a team, you could always have another opportunity to coach, but you don’t get another opportunity to coach the guys in that locker room.
“I think he realizes he’s not going to get a chance to coach three Hall of Famers again, even in his next job. I think he wants to take advantage of it. I think he probably enjoyed some of the things that went on in the playoffs and, you know, I think he wants to give it one last run. I think he really understands his place in Celtics history, in Celtics lore, and he wants to be a part of that.”
Washburn continued to discuss whether right now would be the best time for Doc to take a sabbatical. “I think he could take one next year. I think he’d much rather watch his son’s first and probably only year of college than to watch his senior year of high school, which is going to be somewhat anti-climactic once he picks a college. So I would think next year would probably be a better year for him to step away.”
If Rivers decides not to come back, Washburn said Kevin McHale would probably be the frontrunner to replace him. He and the interviewers also spoke of a strained relationship between McHale and Garnett, which I never knew about. I always thought the two were on great terms; I thought Garnett looks up to McHale and has always considered him a mentor.
Back to Doc. In an interview with the San Antonio Express-News, Rivers explained why the decision is such a tough one.
“I’m not going to get into the whole thing,” Doc Rivers said, “but I have four kids, and two of them are in college. Austin’s in high school, and I have a young one going to be a freshman in high school and I’ve already been gone (in Boston) for six years. “So, we still have an unbelievable relationship as a family,” he said. “As long as I think that’s intact, then that’ll make it an easier decision. But I want to make sure that’s there. We evaluate that every summer.”
Rivers also mentioned that he still loves coaching. The current roster, he says, has made coaching as fun as ever.
“That’s the toughest part about it,” he said. “If you didn’t like coaching or you were burned out by coaching … I’m not, actually. Over the past year, I’ve been reinvigorated in some ways from the group (in Boston) that I have. That’s what makes it so much more difficult for me.”
Though Doc has said he’d probably make a decision by July 1, he also told the Express-News, “I’m just going to take my time.”
I say we let Doc take the entire summer off. Let him recharge the batteries, travel the country watching his son play AAU basketball, and stay as far away from the Celtics’ Waltham practice facilities as he wants. The C’s have enough veterans to run offseason workouts by themselves, they don’t need a head coach overseeing their every move.
Anything to get Doc back. And maybe bribe his family or something. Or kidnap them, hold them hostage, and demand that Doc coach. Whatever it takes.
Related posts:
Celtics Blog, Featured | Jay King | June 28, 2010
