Few coaches have managed to deny the LA Lakers an NBA championship, and most of those have belonged to the Boston Celtics. One of those head tacticians was Doc Rivers .
Interestingly, while Doc deprived the Purple and Gold of a title in 2008, he might have been leading the Lakers himself if Jerry Buss ’ plans had come to fruition. This scenario even tempted Rivers to consider bringing his talents to Hollywood.
Buss wanted Rivers
After the Lakers' loss to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals, speculation arose about Phil Jackson’s future with the team.
With the coaching position potentially open, Buss was uncertain about the Zen Master’s next move but had already identified his preferred candidate. In his book ‘You Can’t Make This Up,’ AI Michaels recounted a brief conversation with longtime Lakers owner Jerry Buss about this very topic.
"I’ll tell you one thing, though," Buss told Michaels. "If your guy hadn’t taken that Boston job, he’d have been my guy."
The ‘guy’ Jerry referred to was Rivers, who had been removed as head coach of the Orlando Magic after just 11 games in the 2003-'04 season and had since joined Michaels as a broadcasting partner on ABC. So, when Michaels told Rivers about what Buss thought about him, he found himself intrigued by the offer despite having recently signed on as head coach of the Celtics.
"You know, I'm not sure if the ink on that Celtics contract is totally dry ," Rivers told Michaels.
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Rivers deprived the Lakers of success
While the Lakers struggled to find an ideal candidate—Rudy Tomjanovich lasted only 43 games and Frank Hamblen for just 39 games in the ‘04-05 season before Jackson’s return for the ‘05-06 campaign—Rivers was building a strong foundation in Boston. Put simply, the latter set the stage for the trio of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce to come together.
Ultimately, when both teams met in the 2008 NBA Finals, Rivers led his franchise to a championship in six games.
That being said, the prospect of Doc coaching Kobe Bryant remains one of the greatest ‘what ifs’ in the league’s history. Either it could have been a sight to behold or one of the biggest disasters, considering their stern demeanors. However, the case might have been that it would have been a tandem to make basketball fans stick to their TV screens.
Related: Rasheed Wallace throws shade at Doc Rivers while talking about the 2010 NBA Finals: "That's another story dealing with fu**** Glenn"
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