While NBA players get most of the attention, the coaching staff also deserves a fair share of the credit. During his time in the Association, Doc Rivers has been on both sides of that equation. After starting out as a point guard, the Chicago native eventually traded his sneakers for a suit and headed to the sidelines. While there have been plenty of ups and downs, he’s established himself as a big-time name on the basketball scene.

And, on the subject of names, you might be wondering about Doc. Surely the bench boss wasn’t named “Doc” and picked up the nickname along the way, but do you know the story behind that famous moniker?

Let’s hop in the time machine and check it out

Doc Rivers has found success as both an NBA player and a head coach

While it’s not a guarantee, many professional coaches started out as players before transitioning into a new role. Doc Rivers, for one, followed that path to the sidelines.

After playing his college ball at Marquette, the guard joined the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the 1983 NBA draft. He’d spent eight seasons in Georgia, playing the best basketball of his career, before heading west to join the LA Clippers. After a year in Hollywood, Rivers would spend two seasons with the New York Knicks and an additional two seasons with the San Antonio Spurs before retiring.

That didn’t mean Doc was done with basketball, though. Coaching was on the cards.

Rivers’ first NBA head coaching job came with the Orlando Magic, where he worked from 1999-2000 to 2003-04. In his second season, Rivers led the Magic to the playoffs, starting a run of three straight postseason appearances.Doc only coached in 11 games with the Magic during the 2003-04 campaign before losing his job, though.

The following year, he would ship up to Boston and take charge of the Celtics.

The Celtics got off to a slow start under Rivers, missing the playoffs in his first two years at the helm. During the 2007-08 campaign, however, everything changed; Boston rattled off 66 regular-season wins and capped the campaign with an NBA title. While there were some additional successes — the club reached the 2010 NBA Finals and the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals — but Doc never got his players back to the top of the metaphorical mountain.

Stints in Los Angeles (with the Clippers) and Philadelphia followed, but Rivers didn’t earn any more rings. If anything, those two gigs were disappointments, marked by postseasons struggles and the inability to lead talented rosters to the promised land.

Rivers earned his iconic nickname by wearing a Doctor J shirt to basketball camp

As you might expect, Doc is not actually Rivers’ first name. His given name is Glenn.

So, where does Doc come from? Unsurprisingly, there’s a basketball connection. 

Rivers got the name “Doc” from the legendary college coach Rick Majerus, who was an assistant during the guard’s time at Marquette. Rivers reportedly showed up to a summer camp wearing a Dr. J t-shirt. According to an ESPN write-up, Majerus noticed the shirt and called the teenager “Doc.”

From there, the rest is history.

While some sources, like an old Hartford Courant story, credit Marquette head coach Al McGuire with coining the nickname, one thing is certain: It stuck and has persisted throughout the years.

Rivers’ legacy is a bit more complicated than his nickname

While some nicknames have elaborate backstories, Doc Rivers’ is fairly cut and dry. He wore a Dr. J shirt and was dubbed “Doc.” The coach’s legacy, however, is a bit less black and white.

On one hand, Rivers has spent more than 20 years on the NBA sideline and led his teams to more than 1,000 wins. While you can argue that longevity isn’t necessarily a sign of success, it does suggest that Doc is doing something right. He’s also won an NBA championship, which isn’t something to sneeze at.

It’s also worth noting that the bench boss has faced some stiff challenges during his career. His time in Los Angeles, for example, saw him guide the team through the Donald Sterling scandal and the COVID-19 pandemic. His leadership during those circumstances confirmed that he has the respect to command a locker room. In modern professional sports, that can’t always be taken for granted.

At the same time, though, a head coach is judged by his body of work, and Rivers hasn’t really delivered during the postseason. While he did win that one NBA title, he’s also blown multiple 3-1 series leads and failed to make the most of rosters featuring the likes of Kawhai Leonard, Joel Embiid, and James Harden.

As Joseph Casciaro wrote for The Score after Doc’s time with the Clippers came to an end, one of the bench boss’ biggest strengths can also be a major weakness. Rivers gets close to his players, coming to understand them as people rather than pawns on a metaphorical chess board. While that helps him lead with skill and finesse, it also makes it harder to pull the trigger on a tough in-series adjustment. Benching a real person is harder than telling a number to sit on the bench.

Do those negatives make the Chicago native a bad coach? Or is he a talented leader with a fatal flaw and some bad luck? You can be the judge of that.

Doc Rivers and his iconic nickname, though, aren’t going anywhere. They’re a part of NBA history.