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Doc Rivers Visits Boston; Proves He’s Still The Man

By Michael Hilperts

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Back during Doc Rivers’ tenure with the Boston Celtics, he served as an active member of several Boston-based charities. Following his departure with the Celtics, Rivers still wished to contribute to these charities – but with his new job displacing him 3,000 miles across the country – he knew his role would be severely diminished. But being the man of honor he is, each year Rivers returns to Boston and visits these charities so he can continue making an impact in the city he still has an affinity for.

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Yesterday, Rivers arrived at the TD Garden to appear at an ABCD Hoops Dreams fundraiser. Throughout the day, Rivers gave some input on his former team, all of which was considerably positive.

While the way Doc departed wasn’t ideal, he’s said nothing but great things about the Celtics and the city of Boston since he left for the Los Angeles Clippers. Now that he’s back in Boston, he appears to be having a great time.

Rivers told ESPN’s Chris Forsberg:

"Oh, it’s awesome. Every year we do this: I come back a couple days early and get my golf in, go to my restaurants and just kinda hang out."

He went on to praise current head coach, Brad Stevens:

"I’m so happy with Brad. Like, one of the first things when I decided to leave and the Celtics hired him, I called him and said, ‘Hey, I need a favor.’ He was like, ‘What?” I said, ‘I need you to take over this for me (ABCD Charity)’ and he’s done that. He’s been great."

Doc obviously still loves the city – and having coached in Boston for nine years – he learned firsthand how difficult it is to entice free agents to come here. So every time Doc endorses the city, he’s making Boston seem like more and more of an attractive destination to land in free agency.

However – in one instance – Doc actually stood in the way of the Celtics by convincing one marquee free agent to choose his team over Boston: Paul Pierce. Prior to Pierce announcing his decision to sign with the Clippers, there were whispers suggesting he was considering the Celtics, but nobody took these rumors too seriously. Most Celtics fans simply dismissed it as typical offseason conjecture. But, according to Doc, Pierce was eyeing his former team a little more seriously than we’d thought.

"You know, I think he wanted to go  one or two places: one, he’d to come here (Boston) or he wanted to finish his career at home where he grew up."

While it’d have been nice to see Pierce retire in Boston (which could still technically happen), as Celtics fans we have to respect The Truth’s decision to retire in his hometown of Los Angeles. We should also be thankful for his decision to join the Clippers and not his childhood-favorite Lakers.

Pierce should be able to contribute for the Clippers this year, considering we saw how crucial he proved to be to the Wizards’ efforts last postseason.

He’s essentially just replacing Matt Barnes in the Clippers’ already-formidable starting lineup. While Pierce may not have the same athleticism as Barnes, he should improve the Clippers in the shooting department. Plus, his championship experience and clutch gene should enhance a team many have deemed immature and quite un-clutch.

When reporters asked Doc how he sees Paul Pierce integrating into the lineup, Doc Rivers jested:

"Well, hopefully make some shots when we’re up 20 in the fourth quarter. That would be nice. Paul will be great."

Doc did give some insight into how the Clippers could change with Pierce in the lineup. Even hinting that his presence could help the team go small.

"Paul, I don’t want to overuse him. I know that. So, I don’t even know how we are going to use him yet. I want to play him at the four a lot, at times."

This could be a nice preventative measure in “Hack-a-DeAndre” moments, as putting Pierce at the four and Blake Griffin at the five would prevent their opponents from intentionally fouling the poor-shooting DeAndre Jordan.  We rarely saw Doc deploy Pierce at power forward when the two were with the Celtics. But on both the Nets and Wizards, Pierce spent a considerable amount of time at the four – especially during the playoffs. Both teams saw immediate improvements upon inserting him into the four spot, considering it sped up their respective offenses and allowed maximum floor-spacing.

The Clippers should be a legitimate contender this season with the additions of both Pierce and wild card, Lance Stephenson. Meanwhile, the Celtics are primed to be an exciting team but, realistically, the second round of the playoffs is their ceiling.  So in case you needed a contender to root for, because of Doc and Pierce, the Los Angeles Clippers should undoubtedly be your team in the Western Conference.

Next: Does Boston Need Another Power Forward

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