Tonight, Rivers's Celtics will face the Hawks in Game 3 of their first-round series, the first home playoff game for Atlanta since 1999, with Boston up, 2-0.
"In my mind, he's a Hawk," said Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge. "We had some great battles back in the day. Doc is one of the fiercest competitors that I played against. He was tough, athletic. He had all the tricks. He was clever. You always knew you were in for a battle playing against Doc because he played both sides all the time. He was a great athlete. The key word is was."
After three seasons at Marquette, Rivers was selected by the Hawks with the 31st overall pick in the second round of the 1983 draft. He quickly became a starter and played in Atlanta for eight seasons.
He was the floor general for the talented and exciting Hawks teams that starred Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins. But during Rivers's time in Atlanta, the Hawks couldn't overcome such Eastern Conference powers as the Celtics, 76ers, Pistons, and Bulls to reach the Finals.
"He was a tough son of a [gun]," Wilkins said. "At the point guard position he may have been considered maybe too aggressive. He's a guy who picked you up full court and he pounded. But more importantly, he knew how to run the offense. He knew how to get people in the right situations. So, it's not surprising to me that he turned out to be a great coach."
Said Rivers: "I loved it. But it was really unfinished as far as we didn't win it."
From 1983-91, Rivers averaged 13 points and 6.8 assists in 568 regular-season games with Atlanta. He remains the Hawks' all-time leader in assists with 3,866 and is third in steals with 1,166. Rivers holds the franchise record for assists in a season with 823 in 1986-87, and shares the NBA record for assists in a half in a playoff game with 15 against Boston May 16, 1988.
"A big, strong guard," said former Hawks coach Mike Fratello. "People said he was like a locomotive. Once he got going he gets faster as he gets going running the floor."
