Bucks head coach Doc Rivers named to Hall of Fame

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers will be entering the Hall of Fame.

The 64-year-old longtime NBA coach and former player is one of four former players named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026 on March 31, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

The other inductees are Amar’e Stoudemire and WNBA legends Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne.

The announcement comes near the end of a tumultuous season for the Bucks, in which they missed the postseason for the first time in 10 years.

Rivers’ contract runs through the end of the 2026-27 season and the Milwaukee front office hasn’t signaled if they will be splitting from the former Marquette University star whose jersey hangs in the rafters at Fiserv Forum. Earlier this season, reports suggested that Rivers may retire after the season.

Rivers, a Chicago native, was an NBA player for 14 seasons, making the All-Star team in 1988 with the Atlanta Hawks, where he played his first eight seasons. Rivers also played for the Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.

As a coach, Rivers was named one of the 15 greatest coaches in NBA history. Rivers led the Boston Celtics to a championship in 2008. His only ring. In addition to Milwaukee, he also coached the Orlando Magic, Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers. Rivers has a career record, including playoffs, of 1305-973 or a 57% win percentage.

Rivers became Bucks coach midway through the 2023-24 season, taking over for first-year coach Adrian Griffin, who led the Bucks to a 30-13 record at the time. Rivers has gone on to compile a losing record of 97-106.

“”It’s been disappointing, obviously,” Rivers told reporters last week. “Since I’ve been here, I haven’t had healthy stretch and it’s been your key guys. It’s been Giannis. It’s been Dame. And you hope you can play through that, but we just haven’t had the ability. This year, having only one quote-unquote star. Every other team has two and three. We needed health. We were thin. We knew that before the season started and it just didn’t go our way. All the talk and all that stuff probably didn’t help either.”