Doc Rivers shared the best advice he ever received from Red Auerbach. “The only two pieces of basketball advice Red ever gave was, and I use it on our players and remind them all the time, is ‘be the agitators, don’t be the retaliators.’ He used to tell me that all the time. I asked him to simplify basketball, and he said, ‘Get the ball, don’t give up the ball.’”
NBA. When Doc Rivers took the head coaching job of the Celtics in 2004, he heard all of his friends’ questions and concerns.
In short, what in Red Auerbach’s name are you doing?
There are certain positions that carry an insane amount of weight — president of the United States, left fielder for the Red Sox, coach of the Celtics — and lesser people would rather steer clear of the fire.
But after getting chased out of Orlando and spending a year on television, Rivers embraced the heat unlike anyone who had come before him. His first order of operation was teaming with Celtics Vice President of Media and Alumni Relations Jeff Twiss to extend an open invitation to every former Celtic to practices and games, home or away.
Twiss, who has worked for the team for 27 years, said they were able to contact about 125 Celtics alumni, and the process took about nine months to a year due to relocations and changes in contact information, with Dave Cowens coming to mind as someone who was one of the hardest to track down.
While Chris Ford and Jim O’Brien were similarly respectful of the franchise’s tradition, Twiss said he had never seen someone so actively embrace it like Rivers. And in true Rivers fashion, there were some comedic revelations along the way.
“I actually met some Celtics that I didn’t know were Celtics, some of the newer guys that played for one year,” Rivers said. “A couple times, guys came in the locker room, and I’m very protective about our locker room, as you know. I asked [Twiss], ‘What the hell is he doing in the locker room?’ He said, ‘He used to be a Celtic.’”
Hall of Famer John Havlicek has been one of the most supportive members of the alumni over the last few years, which has been especially gratifying for the 16th coach in Celtics history.
“He’s a personal favorite of mine because he’s one of my favorite players, so I kind of lean towards him anyway,” Rivers said. “He doesn’t say a lot, he just comes around, and he’s him. … I think he’s great for our guys.”