Doc Rivers coached just his third game for the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday when they defeated the Dallas Mavericks 129-117, but in the process, he earned the right to coach an extra, higher-profile contest later this month. Yes, despite spending most of the season as a broadcaster for ESPN, last night's victory clinched Rivers the right to coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars in the NBA's upcoming midseason showcase.
How did that happen? Well, the formula for coaching the All-Star Game is based on team record. The highest-seeded team in each conference sends its coaching staff to the All-Star Game, but if a coaching staff went last season, it is ineligible for the following All-Star Game. The Boston Celtics have the best record in the Eastern Conference at 37-12, but Joe Mazzulla coached the All-Star Game last season. That made him ineligible.
So the NBA had to move down the list. Saturday's victory gave the Bucks a 33-16 record as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The No. 3-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers are close behind at 31-16, but the deadline for a coach to be chosen is Sunday. The Cavaliers can't catch up in a single day, so the Bucks have therefore clinched the No. 2 seed up through the deadline. That puts Rivers at the helm of the Eastern Conference All-Star team.
A coach taking over in the middle of the season and leading an All-Star team is unusual, but it's not unprecedented. Notably, current Los Angeles Clippers coach (and former Rivers assistant) Ty Lue did so when he took over for the fired David Blatt in Cleveland during the 2015-16 season. Still, Rivers acknowledged the flaw in the system on Saturday after the Bucks defeated the Mavericks.
"That is ridiculously bad. It really is, " Rivers said upon receiving the news. "Well Adrian [Griffin] is gonna get some money, and a ring. It's one of these quirky things. I think there should be a rule, somehow, that someone else does it. Other than me. Maybe I'll send my staff and I'll go on vacation. I'm gonna run that by Adam Silver. Adam's a good man; I think he'll understand."
Even if Rivers wasn't around as the Bucks picked up the majority of their 33 wins, the rest of Milwaukee's coaching staff was. From that perspective, this is a reward for all of them. Rivers just happens to be the highest-profile coach in the group, so he gets the dubious honor of coaching an All-Star team despite winning only a single game in his current job so far.
