EDS: AMs planned.
BOSTON (AP) -The Boston Celtics extended the contract of coach Doc Rivers on Thursday after a season in which the NBA’s most decorated franchise lost a team-record 18 consecutive games and finished with the second-worst record in the league.
“Doc is a leader and I have all the confidence in the world in Doc as coach of the Celtics,” Danny Ainge, the team’s executive director of basketball operations, said in a statement. “With Doc as our coach we have the continuity that is crucial in the development of the franchise.”
The team would not disclose financial terms or length of the extension.
Rivers is 102-144 in three seasons in Boston, going 24-58 in 2006-07 to finish in last place in the Eastern Conference, 16 games out of the playoffs. Though their record was dismal, the Celtics have the second-best chance at getting Ohio State big man Greg Oden, with Texas star Kevin Durant a possible consolation prize in the NBA draft.
The draft lottery is May 22, and the draft is June 28.
Rivers, who was the NBA’s coach of the year with Orlando in 2000, helped the Celtics win the Atlantic Division in his first season in Boston before they lost in the first round of the playoffs in seven games to the Indiana Pacers. This season, he had to deal with season-ending injuries that included Theo Ratliff, Tony Allen and Wally Sczerbiak.
“I am happy to be the head coach of the Boston Celtics,” he said. “Moving forward, I am more determined to move this franchise in the right direction and I believe that I can do that.”
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