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1 Rival NBA Team Recommended Doc Rivers To Bucks

1 Rival NBA Team Recommended Doc Rivers To Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks made a surprising decision midway through the season to fire head coach Adrian Griffin after 43 games.

At the time, the team was 30-13 and tied for the second-best record in the NBA.

Shortly thereafter Milwaukee went out and hired chronic playoff underachiever, Doc Rivers, with a contract that will reportedly pay him $40 million.

How have the Bucks since fared?

Well, in their last 10 games they are 3-7 and are losers of two straight heading into the All-Star Break.

Worse yet, Rivers is already throwing his players under the bus for the team’s struggles and rival players are openly mocking both him and the Bucks in interviews.

So why exactly did Milwaukee go out and hire Rivers? As it turns out, a rival team may have played a role in the whole situation.

Boston Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck appeared on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” this past week and revealed that he had endorsed Rivers to the Bucks.

“I love Doc,” Grousbeck said.

“I got a reference call on Doc from the Bucks. Truthfully, I made a truthful statement, of course. I said we would not have won it in 2008 without Doc. He took that team, molded it together and led the way. He had a ton to do with the championship, and he’s always going to be very special. Very special friend of mine.”

It is telling that, despite that lofty praise, Grousbeck hasn’t invited Rivers back to do anything with the Celtics in a decade.

If he were really as good as Grousbeck suggested in that interview, wouldn’t the Celtics owner want to keep him close?

The Bucks are getting a firsthand look at the Doc Rivers Experience. And so far – it isn’t pretty.

Did the Celtics purposely set the Bucks up to fail with their recommendation of Rivers? Everyone can decide the answer to that one on their own.

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Jennifer Withers Hoey

Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
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