Rasheed Wallace was not a fan of Doc Rivers’ coaching style during his time with the Celtics
"He doesn't make adjustments."
The fallout from the 76ers’ loss to the Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals was swift. Doc Rivers, Philadelphia’s coach since 2020, was fired on Tuesday.
Rivers, 61, led the 76ers to a .653 winning percentage in three seasons, but couldn’t get the team into the Eastern Conference Finals.
While it appears not everyone in the 76ers’ organization was thrilled by the decision to move on from Rivers, one Philadelphia native (and former Celtic) seemed to be in favor of the move.
Rasheed Wallace, a four-time NBA All-Star who played 16 seasons in the league prior to his 2013 retirement, shared his critical opinion of Rivers during a recent episode of his podcast, “That’s What Sheed Said.”
“He doesn’t make adjustments,” Wallace said of Rivers. “That’s just from being in the locker room with him for that one season. I’m sitting back and just looking and recognizing everything. That seems to always be his biggest knock, that he doesn’t make adjustments when it comes to crunch time.”
Wallace played in Boston during the 2009-2010 season, with Rivers as the team’s coach.
Speaking bluntly about his former coach’s poor record in elimination games since leaving the Celtics, Wallace explained why he thinks Rivers has consistently struggled in the postseason.
“If his team is up significantly — 15, 20 points — then OK, you don ‘t really have to coach s*** then,” said Wallace. “But when you’re in the trenches and you’re going against another team and another good coach, then it comes down to not only just your All-Star caliber players but your All-Star caliber coaches as well.”
Wallace credited Celtics assistants for making in-game tactical decisions.
“To me, the adjustment thing is not there for him,” Wallace said of Rivers, “because in my opinion when we were in Boston, Tom Thibodeau had defense, and Kevin [Eastman]…he pretty much was the offensive coordinator for the Celtics.”
Looking over Rivers’ resume, Wallace said it was no coincidence why the longtime coach was able to win with the Celtics but not in other jobs.
“The only spot where did have that success and got past that hump was in Boston, but like I said, he had a mastermind offensive coordinator, and a mastermind defensive coordinator,” said Wallace. “So it wasn’t like he had to really do the Xs and Os like that.”
Ultimately, Wallace thinks that Rivers lacks a level of depth to his coaching ability.
“You have to be more than a locker room manager on the floor.”
Rivers, who won the 1999-2000 NBA Coach of the Year award, has a .590 career winning percentage as a head coach. In nine seasons with the Celtics, he coached Boston to a 416-305 record (a .577 winning percentage). The 2007-2008 team that he coached remains the most recent Celtics NBA championship.
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