Doc Rivers is still very involved in the Boston community meaning the former Celtics coach returns from time to time to TD Garden. While attending the Action for Boston Community Development's Hoop Dreams charity event, Rivers admitted that leaving the Celtics organization was very tough for him, but seeing some of his long-time players leave was even harder.
The Celtics executed one of the biggest trades in the offseason sending Rivers to the Clippers and Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Brooklyn Nets. Rivers says that coaching for the Celtics was the best nine years of his life and watching himself and his friends leave the organization was difficult.
Pierce started his career in Boston and many believed that he would end it there. However, things did not work out and now the veteran will be suiting up in a different uniform come October.
"I didn't want Paul to go, even though I knew it was coming," said Rivers, via WEEI.com. "That was a tough one for me. Even when I was here and it was being talked about - my thing is, Kobe [Bryant] is going to end up being a Laker for life. Dirk [Nowitzki] is going to be a Maverick. That's the one thing that, if we didn't do right, that was the one right thing we didn't do for Paul."
The head coach understands that it is all the business of basketball and he would rather look bad at the good times instead of focusing on the final moments of his career there. One of Rivers' favorite parts of the Celtics was coaching Garnett. The head coach said that fans never got to know the real Garnett who is the most unselfish player Rivers has ever worked with.
"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.
Rivers thinks that Garnett can be a star anywhere he plays because of his "team first" attitude. The head coach notes that he was the true leader in the locker room, working with rookies and helping build teammates up. Recently Garnett has instilled that wisdom on the remaining Celtics star, Rajon Rondo.
Rivers is thankful for his time with the Celtics. He vowed to remain involved in the community despite now living in Los Angeles.
