76ers’ Doc Rivers becomes 10th coach in NBA history to reach 1,000 career wins

Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers made some NBA history on Saturday night. With Philadelphia’s 114-105 victory over the Bulls in Chicago, Rivers became the 10th coach in NBA history to reach 1,000 career wins. Rivers is just the second active coach to reach the milestone, joining San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who currently has 1,313 career wins (and counting). Don Nelson is the all-time leader with 1,335 wins. 

Rivers is in his second season as the coach of the Sixers. Prior to his time in Philadelphia, he spent seven seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, nine seasons with the Boston Celtics and five seasons with the Orlando Magic. His teams have qualified for postseason play 20 separate times, and he led the Celtics to the NBA title in 2008. 

Following Philadelphia’s win over Chicago on Saturday night, Rivers admitted that he wasn’t even aware that he was on the cusp of the milestone. 

“Honestly, I had no idea that I was at 999,” Rivers said. “I don’t count. That’s not why I do it, but this win, being shorthanded, being in Chicago means a lot, and it also means I’m very lucky. When I go back and look at the coaching staff that I’ve had and all the players, wins like tonight, obviously, winning the title is great, but wins like tonight is why you coach. 

“When you’re just piecemealing it together and the guys are pulling together. We did it in Detroit, we did it in the last Chicago game, we did it again tonight. These are the games that are when you sit back and think special wins, these are the ones that are really special.” 

Given the fact that Rivers still has plenty of coaching left ahead of him — he still has several years remaining on his current contract with the Sixers — he will continue to move up the all-time wins list. When his coaching career ultimately comes to a close, though, Rivers will have an extremely strong case to be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame.