Doc Rivers is nearly 3,000 miles away from Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, but just as close as ever. He coached them for years in Boston, molded them into champions and helped mature them as men. Now, even though he’s coaching the Clippers and they’re playing in Brooklyn, their bond is still strong.
It was an emotional night for all three, who met for the first time since their halcyon Celtics days. Pierce and Garnett each went to greet Rivers before tipoff, the latter clasping his former coach — as well as ex-Celtic assistants Tyronn Lue and Kevin Eastman — in a long-armed embrace. And after the Nets’ 102-93 win, Rivers came over to hug his former players and chat with them.
“It was a bit weird. I said something to Truth [Pierce] like, ‘Man, this feels weird,’ and we had a little conversation about it,’’ said Garnett, who had two points and six boards in 15 minutes. “But I’ll always have a special place for Doc. I thought he helped me grow not only as a player, but as a young man.
“He taught us a lot about not just basketball and the philosophies of it, but about being a young man, a young black man, understanding your responsibilities, because we were starting our families. [He’s] just overall a great model. No one’s perfect, all humans have their flaws or whatever; but shoot, he’s damn near close to it. I’m just grateful he came into my life and that I had that experience to him.’’
Garnett played seven years under Rivers in Boston, Pierce even longer with nine, including winning the 2008 title. And even though they’re on different teams now – heck, different coasts – they’ve maintained a good relationship.
“Very good,’’ said Pierce, who had 10 points, seven boards and five assists. “We talk, we keep in contact all the time, we text. So when you accomplish something special, a championship, I still keep in contact with a lot of my teammates that were on that championship team. It’s like a connection you have for life when you do something special like that.
“I grew under him. I was a young player, played nine years with him, just continued to mature and become a better all-around player under him. Before I was really known as a scorer; now when he took over he taught me the other parts of the game, the defense, the rebounding, the passing, just helped my game grow and mature.’’
Pierce — playing back-to-back games as a reserve for the first time in his career — helped the Nets bench turn the game. Still, Rivers enjoyed catching up with players who meant so much to him.
“They were great,’’ Rivers said. “We talked after the Boston game, and I was shocked that Kevin came over before the game [Thursday] because he was a routine. I turned to [Lue] and said, ‘Kevin’s going to struggle now. He just broke his routine.’ But, we talk all the time. It was nice. They were really happy about last night. That’s basically what they both said.’’