Possible Frank Vogel replacement for the Los Angeles Lakers: Doc Rivers
If the Philadelphia 76ers have another poor post-season, it could very easily spell the end for Doc Rivers.
The 76ers loss could be the Los Angeles Laker’s gain.
Rivers has been one of the better head coaches in the NBA for over a decade, however, his accolades as a head coach apart from his lone NBA championship with the big 3 in Boston, aren’t stellar.
Rivers has been a coach that has landed in numerous situations as a head coach that most would dream of. The Boston Celtics (Won a ring with KG, Pierce, Allen, and Rondo), Los Angeles Clippers (Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, etc… never won there) and now in Philadelphia with a glut of talent including Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Seth Curry, Matisse Thybulle and Tyrese Maxey just to name a few, it remains to be seen whether Rivers can maximize this talent but if he fails to do so, he could find himself seeking employment elsewhere in the NBA.
So why would Rivers make sense for the Los Angeles Lakers?
With the likes of LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Anthony Davis on your team, you need a star-friendly head coach who can stand up to these players.
Rivers has been dealing with the league’s elite for a long long time.
He doesn’t overmanage players. He has the perfect balance of getting on them and in the same breath, he knows when to lay off the guys and let them work.
Doc has a lot of trust in his players, he will often bring the players into the huddle at a time out and allow them to talk amongst themselves about how to solve the problems on the floor and figure it out by themselves while also dropping wisdom himself.
He was a former player, so he automatically has buy-in from players top to bottom as he has been through the grind. As a player, he was highly respected for both talent and leadership.
A significant strength of Rivers is that He looks at the season in its entirety, not just on a game-to-game basis. and focuses his resources appropriately. Meaning that if he believes a player like LeBron is burning himself out, he will lower his minutes and/or pull him from games altogether to protect the player for the playoffs.
While Championship glory has alluded Doc since 2008, he is a very very good head coach.