Doc Rivers turned down an offer to become an NBA analyst for NBC after retiring as a player in 1996 because he couldn't promise then-NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol that he wouldn't become a coach.
With Rivers now insisting that his Hall of Fame coaching career is over, the time seemed right for him to join NBC.
The network announced on Monday that Rivers will be an analyst on games this season across NBC, Peacock and NBCSN, along with the possibility for some studio work.
“I honestly can say I’m absolutely retired,” Rivers said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “I had a long run. It ended up in the (Naismith) Hall of Fame (earlier this year) and I am so thankful that I was able to coach and played as long as I did. For the first time, I can focus on giving TV my 100% attention, which I’m really looking forward to.
“I think I’ve always been pretty honest. I’ve always celebrated the game in general, but told the truth. I don’t think anyone has ever had a problem with honesty and the way you tell the truth. There are always times where you offend people because of the truth, but I’ve never really worried about that.”
Rivers is sixth on the NBA's career coaching list in wins (1,194) and games (2,059). In nine seasons with Boston, he led the Celtics to the NBA title in 2008 and returned to the finals two years later. Along with Boston and Orlando, Rivers coached the Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.
This will not mark the first time Rivers has worked with NBC. He was a studio analyst during the 2012 London Games and got to do other sports beside basketball, including handball.
“We couldn’t be happier to have him back on the NBC Sports team,” NBC sports executive producer and president Sam Flood said in a statement about Rivers. “Having led the Celtics to the 2008 NBA title with nearly four decades of NBA experience between coaching and playing, we are excited to add another Hall of Famer to our roster.”
Rivers was with Turner Sports for three years (1996-99) before beginning his coaching career with the Orlando Magic. He also had two stints with ESPN/ABC in 2003-04 and 2023. That included being on the top announcing team with Mike Breen and Doris Burke for the first couple months of the 2023-24 season before taking the Bucks job in January 2024.
“I don’t take a lot of breaks in my life. I’ve always been around the game and this is a way of keeping me there,” Rivers said. “When you think about it, I’ve played, I’ve coached, I’ve been in front office, I’ve done TV, I’ve done about everything you can do in our game. And that gives me an interesting perspective and hopefully I can share that with the viewers.”
Rivers also coached five players who became NBC analysts and played against Reggie Miller, NBC's lead analyst. Rivers, a point guard, played on four teams during his 12-year career.
He coached his son, Austin, and Jamal Crawford with the Clippers; Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady in Orlando; and Brian Scalabrine with Boston.
One of the funnier moments last season was Austin Rivers trying to interview his dad before a Milwaukee-Cleveland game.
“With this opportunity, one of the things I thought was I’d love to work with Austin. That would be a lot of fun to be able to work with him," Doc Rivers said. "It’s funny when you think about half the staff, I’ve either coached or been the father. I had a fight with Reggie, which is even funnier. So it’s pretty cool how connected I am to all the talent.”
NBC's coverage begins with three games on opening night, Oct. 20 — including Boston at Detroit and Oklahoma City vs. San Antonio. The marquee game that night will be the New York Knicks beginning their defense of the franchise's first NBA title since 1973 when they host Philadelphia in LeBron James' 76ers debut.
“When you add Giannis (Antetokounmpo) going to Miami, LeBron going to Philadelphia, Indiana getting healthy, Cleveland a whole year now with (James) Harden and (Donovan) Mitchell. The East is going to be rough this year. I mean, it’s very, very much top heavy in the East and it’ll be an interesting conference,” Rivers said. "The West, the top two teams are still the top two teams, San Antonio and Oklahoma. There’s two interesting teams. The Lakers, because they have Luka (Doncic) and Denver because they have (Nikola) Jokic, right? You can’t discount those teams.
"I think the much-watched team of the year will be Minnesota. It could go unbelievably well where (LaMelo) Ball and Ant (Anthony Edwards) figure it out and they play well or they could struggle. I mean, we just don’t know, but that’s a lot of talent on one team."
See AP’s full NBA coverage here
FILE - Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, center, applauds during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, March 31, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps, File)
The main Kremlin party has further strengthened its already overwhelming control of parliament, according to results Monday from Russia’s first wartime parliamentary election, a tightly orchestrated vote that excluded virtually any genuine opposition.
With over 95% of the vote counted, the top Kremlin party, United Russia, stands to get more than three-fourths of the seats in the lower house, the State Duma, a record high.
It was the first parliamentary election since President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the first to include residents of four regions of that country that were seized and illegally annexed by Moscow later that year. At a polling station in the Russian-held part of the Donetsk region, voters dropped their ballots in a box under the gaze of an armed Russian soldier.
Voting also was held in Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Kyiv denounced the voting in those regions as illegal.
The government was “able to carry out the campaign and the voting the way it wanted, with the most optimal output,” said Tatyana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in an online commentary.
The Kremlin wanted the balloting to underline public support for its military action in Ukraine, and it sought to avoid any political risks by stamping out even the slightest sign of dissent.
A massive state media campaign and tight control over the vote allowed the Kremlin to maintain and even strengthen its political dominance despite economic troubles and long-range Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries and warehouses belonging to top online retailers that brought the conflict home for millions.
Preliminary results indicated that United Russia would get 355 out of 450 Duma seats, according to the Central Election Commission. It polled just under 58% of the vote for the 225 seats apportioned by parties, and also won 208 single-seat races filling the other half of the chamber.
Several smaller parties representing the “systemic opposition” that vote in sync with the Kremlin's wishes on all key issues are set to fill most of the remaining seats. Just a handful will go to candidates who ran without a party affiliation.
The balloting was spread over three days from Friday to Sunday to boost turnout, which exceeded 59%, the highest for a parliamentary election in over a decade.
Electronic balloting was available in many regions and encouraged by authorities. Critics argued that it made it easier for the government to control the outcome.
Final results will be announced Friday.
The liberal Yabloko party, the only registered political entity that dared to publicly criticize the war, was removed from the ballot last month by Russia’s Supreme Court, and only had a few dozen candidates in the single-seat races.
Additionally, some anti-war politicians were imprisoned or forced to flee abroad ahead of the campaign.
Preliminary results indicated that no Yabloko candidates won a seat. Despite the failure, Yabloko pointed out that five of its candidates in Moscow came second in their races with more than 10% of the vote each. It was a sign that “demands for peace and freedom enjoy significant support,” said Ivan Bolshakov, head of the party's analytical center.
Yabloko and the Communist Party, which has criticized some aspects of government policy but carefully avoided any criticism of Putin, said many of their observers were turned away from polling stations.
Russia didn’t invite observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, with the Foreign Ministry accusing the group of “double standards” for its criticism of the country. OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Pere Joan Pons said the decision was a breach of Russia’s commitments as a member of the organization.
The election took place against the backdrop of incessant Ukrainian drone attacks. On Sunday, Russia's Defense Ministry reported that it downed 1,110 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 450 drones were downed while approaching the city in what he described as “the largest ever” attack on the capital in a failed attempt to disrupt the vote, which damaged an oil refinery and a residential building.
Three people were killed in the wider Moscow region, Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said, and the Health Ministry reported 38 others were injured and received medical treatment.
Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes over the summer pounded oil refineries, triggering a widespread fuel crisis, and set ablaze sprawling warehouses of online retailers Wildberries and Ozon.
“Putin, of course, will interpret United Russia's results as confirmation of the (public) support of the war, even though it is not the case: The overall demand for ending the war is growing,” said Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.
“The main question is: What now? There are great concerns about mobilization, new repressions, harsher measures, and escalation," she wrote.
“I partially agree that Putin may perceive the election results as a green light for ‘anything for the victory,' but I think the role of the elections here is greatly exaggerated," she added. "Everything depends much more on the military situation, the American factor (I don’t believe new negotiations will work out), and the overall picture, where everyone is escalating.”
People stand next to video screens sowing preliminary voting results for Russian parliamentary elections at Russia's Central Election Committee headquarters, in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman and the head of the United Russia party Dmitry Medvedev, center, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, center right, stand with other party members as they watch preliminary voting results for Russian parliamentary elections at the United Russia's headquarters in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Ekaterina Shtukina, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Russian Federal Customs Service Valery Pikalev in Moscow, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Journalists stand next to video screens sowing preliminary voting results for Russian parliamentary elections at Russia's Central Election Committee headquarters, in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Ella Pamfilova, the head of Russian Central Election Commission, speaks during a news conference following parliamentary elections, in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Ella Pamfilova, the head of Russian Central Election Commission, 2nd left, and other members of the Commission attend a news conference following parliamentary elections, in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Vladimir Yakushev, a secretary of the General Council of the United Russia party, speaks during a news conference following parliamentary elections, in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Vladimir Yakushev, a secretary of the General Council of the United Russia party, speaks during a news conference following parliamentary elections, in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
A voter fills-in a ballot during Russia's parliamentary election in Donetsk, in the Russian-controlled part of the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (AP Photo)
