The Boston Celtics just got even more representation in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, as ESPN's Shams Charania announced that former Celtics head coach Doc Rivers is among this year's HOF inductees.
Amar'e Stoudemire, Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne and Doc Rivers are among the members inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/6oPR2gBgtE
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 31, 2026
Like Rivers or not, he is among the winningest coaches in NBA history, and when the league published its Top 75, Rivers' name was featured in their Top 15 coaches ever list. And yet, ask anyone who has been the most criticized coach in the league over the past decade or so, and the answer would be Doc Rivers.
Ever since he left the Celtics, Rivers has struggled to replicate the success he had in Boston with the teams he's coached, making the Celtics' 17th title look even more impressive because of his failures since 2013.
By that same logic, it's why Rivers should thank Boston for getting him that kind of reputation then and giving him the pedigree as a coach to make it into the Hall of Fame. Even with his failures after coaching the Celtics, it's fair to argue he may have never gotten to that level had it not been for the success he has in the Big 3 stretch from 2007 to 2012.
The Celtics boosted Rivers legacy better than any of his other teams did
Everyone thinks of the title that Boston won while Rivers called the shots from the sidlines, but they also made another NBA Finals two years after that and made an additional Eastern Conference Finals two years after that.
By the time he left Boston, Rivers' rep had never been better, as that team remained among the NBA's best over the five years they boasted the Big 3 and the rising Rajon Rondo (they really should call it the Big 4, if you think about it). When it all ended, no one believed Rivers was responsible for their only title win.
But in hindsight, he may have gotten more credit than he deserved for their success. There's a strong argument that he simply had way too much talent not to thrive with it for as long as he did.
For what it's worth, almost all the alumni from those teams still speak highly of Doc to this day (sans Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace as far as we know). And no matter how anyone slices it, the only Celtics coach of the 21st century to accomplish the same thing Doc has is Joe Mazzulla. To put a cherry on top, no one is saying his coaching was bad or that Rivers brought nothing to the table.
Regardless of how things have panned out for him since, Rivers is a championship-winning coach, but it's become clear that he wouldn't have had nearly as strong a case had he never been in the perfect coaching situation he was in Boston.