The suns should slam the door on Doc Rivers

Doc Rivers, former NBA champion head coach, is a finalist for Phoenix head coach, per Shams Charania. The Suns, however, should accept a bye.

Rivers, who the 76ers fired after a conference semifinal loss to Boston, is clearly no improvement over Monty Williams, who Phoenix canned after Denver ousted the Suns in the second round.

Rivers is not well suited to today’s NBA and his playoff record is abysmal aside from a championship with Boston in 2008.

Former NBA player Rasheed Wallace, a four-time NBA All-Star, recently weighed in on Rivers’ shortcomings as a coach.

“He doesn’t make adjustments” says Wallace, who played under Rivers with the Celtics in the 2009-10 season. “It’s just being in the dressing room with him this season. He depends on the players to make those adjustments (alone).”

According to SBNation, in the playoffs, Rivers’ winning percentage is 32.7% (16-33) despite his team already having three wins in a series. His teams lost three 3-1 leads (a feat no other coach has done more than once), missed four 3-2 leads (including this season against the Celtics) and lost the Game 7 at home four times.

Given those shortcomings, it’s baffling that Rivers continues to be considered for head coaching jobs — especially one as promising as Phoenix’s.

Besides the Suns, Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported that an unnamed NBA executive suggested Rivers could be a “sleeper candidate” for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Nothing justifies giving Rivers the keys to a franchise that boasts superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks) or Kevin Durant (Suns) and Devin Booker (Suns).

If history repeats itself, as it often does with Rivers, one could expect at least one playoff meltdown, possibly more if one of those teams hires him. That’s why Phoenix and Milwaukee should avoid this Doc.