Doc really, Really Appreciates KG and Thinks Rondo Will Become a Coach

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2013/09/doc_rivers_really_appreciates.html



Doc Rivers really, really appreciates Kevin Garnett, believes Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo will one day become a coach

Print Jay King, MassLive.com By Jay King, MassLive.com  
on September 12, 2013 at 6:38 PM





Inspired by Kevin Garnett, former Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers unleashed another love sonnet Wednesday to WEEI. This is not big news. Over the past six years, Rivers has repeatedly suggested how lucky he was to coach the 7-foot bundle of unselfishness.

The sentiment rarely changes, but, no matter how many times Rivers praises Garnett, the words are powerful enough I generally like to share them:

“Fans never got to see Kevin’s personality,” Rivers said. “I wish the city got to know Kevin more. He’s the single best athlete that I’ve ever been around as far as being a team guy. He’s as ‘team’ of a star as I’ve ever seen. A lot of stars are stars, but he’s unselfish, to a fault at times, but every coach should be able to coach Kevin Garnett just to see what a true team player should be.”

“He did a lot of good things that people don’t know,” Rivers said. “When rookies came in, he would bring them up to my office. He’d sit them down, and then he would bring his tailor in and say, ‘If you want to be a pro, you’ve got to dress like a pro.’ And he would buy each rookie two suits, and he did it every year. To me, that says a lot about Kevin Garnett as a teammate.”

Since leaving for the Los Angeles Clippers, Rivers' quotes about Garnett have, if anything, grown stronger, maybe a little wistful. I can almost envision Rivers standing outside the 37-year old's house with a bouquet of flowers, throwing rocks at the window and imploring Garnett to come say hello.

Rivers' relationship with Rajon Rondo wasn't always such a Shakespearean romance. Especially early during Rondo's tenure, the two had issues, according to the coach. The point guard even admits he's difficult to deal with, always challenging the status quo whenever he sees a reason. When the Celtics hired Brad Stevens, some very respected reporters took it to mean Rondo's days in Boston might be numbered. The thinking went that not even crazy Danny Ainge would put Stevens, an NBA rookie, in charge of such a volatile star.

But hints from the Celtics this summer suggest maybe Rondo's not impossible to handle.

He was spotted a few weeks ago at Brandon Bass' wedding, dancing with Bass and apparently having a glorious time. Rondo has been lauded as a leader by Avery Bradley, who recently said of his older teammate's unclear status, "Rondo will still be there to play that leadership role and help everybody out. Even if I’m not playing point guard, I’m pretty sure whoever is, Rondo is going to be there in his ear, trying to help us become the best team we can be and win a championship."

When Courtney Lee was asked in July about the tight bond between him, Jeff Green and Avery Bradley, he responded in part, "Rondo, he’s part of that group too."

And probably the strongest piece of circumstantial evidence: Garnett still calls Rondo his brother. He still checks in to see how Rondo's recovering from a partially torn ACL. And when he explained why, Garnett said, "Those are just things I do to people that I'm close to."

How close? After he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets, Garnett told Jackie MacMullan, "Although I'm losing a teammate, I have a friend for life. That's the way I look at it."

And this is Garnett, maybe the standard for all NBA teammates. At least if you're on his side, at least. In the past, he completely stopped communicating with at least two teammates who weren't on board with his locker room philosophies. Years ago, the Boston Herald's Mark Murphy mentioned a post-practice session during which Garnett -- while shouting,"Do you feel me?" -- repeatedly dunked on former teammate Patrick O'Bryant. Garnett's loyal, just not to those he feels have wronged him. He shows Ray Allen no love, and, in 2012, five years after being traded from Minnesota, said about the Timberwolves: "As far as that franchise, I have nothing positive to say."

Garnett doesn't not seem like one who would take kindly to locker room menaces. Which brings me, finally, to what inspired most of this post.

According to WEEI, Rivers believes Rondo will coach one day. (He also thinks Pierce will coach and Garnett, who swears he'll walk away from the game forever after retirement, might also man the sidelines at some point in the future. But that's beside my point.)

Perhaps I'm jumping wildly to conclusions, but if Rivers considered Rondo a problem child -- if he really couldn't stand the guy and doesn't feel Rondo can relate to people -- would he have suggested Rondo will become a coach? I doubt Mike Woodson will ever tout J.R. Smith as a future leader of men, and I don't think Michael Beasley will get called about too many assistant coaching vacancies 20 years down the road. Coaches need to know a lot about basketball and they need to know how to communicate effectively with players. I could be reading too much into Rivers' prediction, which was essentially a throwaway line in WEEI's report, but I think it implies something meaningful, a level of respect.

Since departing for the Clippers, Rivers has barely said a bad word about Rondo. For the most part, he's stood in the point guard's corner, saying Rondo matured over the years and their relationship became strong. As far as I'm aware, the one public criticism from Rivers -- he told the Boston Globe, "I will say you don’t know which Rajon Rondo you’re going to get from day to day" -- was spoken in the same breath as, "In the big picture, my overall relationship with him is very good."

The possibility that maybe Rondo's not a horrible human being shouldn't come as a huge surprise. MacMullan wrote a piece last year hailing Rondo as a matured leader. In the article, Keyon Dooling was quoted, "He is the most underappreciated leader in this league." And in another priceless quote from Dooling (he wasn't the only player to speak out on Rondo's behalf, just the most memorable), he told Holly MacKenzie: "If I have to go down a dark alley, I want to go down there with him. As a matter of fact, behind him because he's a great leader."

Still, the most prominent paint brushes -- especially this offseason -- have outlined Rondo as a coach-killer. I'm frankly surprised he never gathered all the world's thumb tacks, just so he could place them behind Rivers' back wheels and watch while they popped the coach's tires.

In all seriousness, I do imagine Rondo's thorny. I don't know much personally about his personality, but a lot of well-sourced writers agree he can be difficult. As far as I can tell, Sports Illustrated's Ian Thomsen, always very measured, started the "Celtics must trade Rondo because they hired Stevens" trend. Grantland's Zach Lowe, whose word I respect as much as any NBA writer's, wrote in late January, "The rumors about (Rondo's) sour personality are true — there are hundreds of whispered 'Rondo's a brat' stories floating around the league."

Rondo's bristly nature isn't fake. But maybe it's been overblown, at least to an extent. Maybe he's not a threat to steal your children's candy on Halloween, and maybe his basketball IQ will one day make him a heck of a coach.



bob




.

Even Doc knows how smart Rondo is. I'm betting that at least half the time they disagreed, Rondo may have been right. Rondo's intelligence would allow him to be a great coach.

Pierce could probably coach, but something tells me he'd be a Doc Rivers style coach-a great motivator of players as opposed to an analytically-oriented mind.



KJ

I don't think KG is going to be keeping in touch with Ray Allen.

k_j_88 wrote:Even Doc knows how smart Rondo is. I'm betting that at least half the time they disagreed, Rondo may have been right. Rondo's intelligence would allow him to be a great coach.

Pierce could probably coach, but something tells me he'd be a Doc Rivers style coach-a great motivator of players as opposed to an analytically-oriented mind.



KJ

Doc was never that good a coach, Thibs and defense and KG transformed the 08 team.

In the biggest game of the year in game 7 in 10 he had a 12-13 point lead in 4th and blew it cause in that game he didn't use Tony Allen or bench at all and a team already shorthanded ran out of gas in 4th. I have to think Pierce and Ray had at least 2 more baskets in them each in that 4th if they weren't so gassed....as I was watching that game I thought Pierce and Ray need a breather in first half as they were defending so hard that game, was thinking WTF is Doc doing?

refs also focked us that game 7 LOL, what else is new?

I don't know about anyone else, but isn't it time for Doc to go to California and coach? I really am tired of picking up the paper or turning on my computer and reading something else that Doc has to say about the Celtics! Get over it, you do not belong here a nay more. He was great when he was here but all he is doing is second guessing everything going on in Boston.

I also know that there are many who hated the Perk trade, but do you honestly think he is worth the money they gave him in Oklahoma? There is no way Ainge was going to give him that kind of money.

Okay, got that off my chest! Any trades going to be made?

Rosalie