Reuters) – The Los Angeles Clippers will formally introduce Doc Rivers as their head coach today after the Boston Celtics agreed to release him from his contract in exchange for a 2015 draft pick, the two teams said yesterday.
Rivers joins the Clippers after nine NBA seasons in Boston where he amassed a record of 416-305 in the regular season and 59-47 in the postseason, including an NBA championship in 2008.
The 51-year-old Rivers, one of only four active NBA coaches to win an NBA title, takes over a Clippers team that finished fourth in the 15-team Western Conference last season but lost in the opening round of the playoffs.
Rivers replaces Vinny Del Negro, who was not given a new contract following the team’s early playoff exit, and will also serve as the team’s senior vice president of basketball operations.
The Clippers sent a first round pick in the 2015 NBA Draft to the Celtics as compensation for releasing Rivers from his contract, which had three years and $21 million remaining.
A replacement for Rivers was not named.
Prior to joining the Celtics, Rivers spent just over four seasons as head coach of the Orlando Magic, earning NBA Coach of the Year Honors in his first season when he led a team that was expected to finish last to a playoff berth in 2000.
