The Boston Celtics won their 17th championship back in 2008, bringing relevance back to their name after decades of suffering. It was one of the most memorable seasons in franchise history, knowing bad things had become before and how swiftly they turned it all around once Paul Pierce joined forces with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
Almost 18 years later, that title has only been remembered even more fondly, as something has become abundantly clear since then: that team made Doc Rivers look better as a coach than he really was.
Keep in mind that the season before, the Celtics were not only the second-worst team in the league, sporting a record of 24-58, but also had one of the longest losing streaks of all-time, losing 18 consecutive games.
But then, he suddenly had a team of three Hall-of-Famers still reasonably in their prime, not to mention an up-and-coming star in Rajon Rondo, got the free agency steal of the offseason when they got James Posey late in the summer after assembling the Big 3, and then as a cherry on top, added one of the best defensive bigs of his era, PJ Brown, at the tail end of his career mid-season.
The stars aligned for Boston to win Banner 17. No one can take that away from them, but it also elevated Rivers to a status that he frankly didn't deserve in hindsight. It's fair to say that, with the lack of success to his name since then, which has only been further highlighted by his current team's immense struggles, the Celtics won the title in spite of Rivers' shortcomings.
The Celtics were the last team to get their money's worth from Rivers
Many have criticized those Celtics teams for winning only one title - which is genuinely stupid because doing that is very hard and Boston's window was damaged by untimely injuries - but they made the most out of what they could.
They came within inches of another title in 2010, while badly timed injuries ruined their chances of going on extensive runs in 2009, 2011, and 2012. Even so, they made three Eastern Conference Finals in a five-year run with the Big 3 (really Big 4 once Rondo blossomed into a star).
More than that, Rivers' reputation has fallen considerably since ditching Boston in 2013. Between his time with the Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, and Milwaukee Bucks, he's never reached the Conference Finals.
And this despite the fact that he's had players of similar All-Star-caliber to utilize, like the ones he had in Boston, including Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Joel Embiid, James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Damian Lillard, all still in their primes.
Compare that to the Celtics, who, despite having to rebuild and retool over the same span, have made six Conference Finals appearances. That speaks volumes about how well-run the Celtics are, but also about how big a boost coaching them was for his career when he had the Big 4 in his arsenal.
In fact, the Celtics are the only ream Rivers has coached who didn't owe him a cent after they got rid of him! The three aforementioned teams, along with the Orlando Magic (the first team he coached) all still owed him when they parted ways.
Boston winning the 2008 title did wonders for the legacies of all the big names involved, but there may not have been a bigger beneficiary of that championship than Rivers.