Doc Rivers’ stint as Milwaukee Bucks coach is just a week old, and he’s already earned a spot in the All-Star Game.
Rivers and his staff will coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars when they take on the West later this month, the NBA announced.
That’s because the Bucks, thanks to their 129-117 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night, clinched the East’s best record through games on Feb. 4 among teams with coaches eligible to participate in the festivities.
The Boston Celtics hold the best record in the East at 37-12, but their coach, Joe Mazzulla, was a head coach in the All-Star Game last season, and as a result, is ineligible to participate this year. Milwaukee is currently second in the East at 33-16.
Rivers took over the Bucks last week, leaving his job as an ESPN analyst to replace the fired Adrian Griffin. Milwaukee is 1-2 with him on the sideline.
This will mark the fourth time he’s served as a head coach in the All-Star Game, previously doing so in 2008, 2011 and 2021. He’s the fifth person to coach an All-Star Game after taking over a team during the season, with Tyronn Lue the last to do it after he was hired by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015-16.
This year’s All-Star Game will take place in Indianapolis on Feb. 18.
