Sign the extension, Doc. Please.

After last season, Doc Rivers had one foot out the door. His family beckoned, and a year away from coaching offered the prospect of a nice break. After losing Game 7 to the Lakers, Rivers was pretty sure he was a goner.

You know the rest of the story. Somewhere along the way, the appeal of coaching a game, competitive Celtics team kept Rivers in Boston. Now he’s contemplating whether he should stay in Boston forever. (Yahoo! Sports)

“Two years ago, I didn’t have that thought,” Rivers told Yahoo! Sports. “But clearly this summer, I had that thought a lot. It’s because of the organization. Even after [the Big Three] leave, I still have that relationship and it’s going to allow us to be good again. If I’m going to stay in it without taking a break, it would be tough for me to go anywhere else. We’ve talked about [an extension], but I just want to wait. But to be a career Celtics coach is something I think about. I’ve learned: You don’t have what we have here somewhere else.”

Besides a team that would kill itself to win games (at least postseason games), Rivers has a general manager who backs his every decision. Even when Rivers coached Gerald Green and co. to a 24-58 season, Danny Ainge had his back. Rivers’s relationship with Ainge makes him believe the sky might not be bluer somewhere else. Ainge agrees.

“I think we do have something special, and I think it would be in everybody’s best interest to try to work something out and keep something long-term for Doc,” Ainge said.

Doc’s come a long way. From the coach the entire city of Boston wanted fired, to the proud champion now unquestionably considered one of the game’s great coaches, Rivers has earned our trust. Now, all he has to do is sign a contract extension. Rivers said it best.

“You don’t have what we have here somewhere else.”