LOS ANGELES – Wearing a gray hat and gray shirt, Doc Rivers inconspicuously blended into the stands at the Mendenhall Center in Las Vegas in mid-July.
Still, somehow, coach after coach continued to find him. Every few minutes after Team USA practice ended, a familiar face would walk over to get a word with the Clippers head coach, who was there to watch his center, DeAndre Jordan, train in preparation for the Olympics.
Unsurprisingly, one of those coaches was U.S. assistant Tom Thibodeau, now the head coach in Minnesota. Rivers and Thibodeau go back a long way, with Thibodeau serving as the associate head coach in Boston for three seasons while Rivers was head coach.
“He’s been unbelievable for me,” Thibodeau said. “Obviously working on his staff in Boston, winning a championship together, I’ve learned a ton from him. He’s a great friend.”
What Thibodeau learned from Rivers extended beyond the court. Thibodeau said he respects the way Rivers handles any challenge that comes his way, but that’s not what he admires most about the Clippers head coach.
“His willingness to share with other people,” Thibodeau said, “I think that’s what makes him so special.”
And that’s part of the reason Thibodeau has confided in Rivers with every major coaching decision he’s made, which was no different this summer as Thibodeau took over as head coach and president of basketball operations for one of the most talented young teams in the league, led by 2015 top overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns.
When Thibodeau went to Chicago, he wanted Rivers’ input. When Thibodeau’s five-year stint as head coach of the Bulls ended, he also wanted Rivers’ input, showing up at a handful of Clippers practices and events this past preseason.
As Thibodeau said, Rivers was always willing to share, and that included time at his own practice gym.
“It’s a lot more than just coming by,” Thibodeau said. “I talk to him all the time. We talk on the phone, we bounce things off of each other. But, when you’ve worked with somebody and you get to know them well, I probably talk to him as much now as I did when I worked for him. He’s been a great resource for me.”
And, in making the substantial decision of figuring out where his next coaching destination would be, this summer was no different gathering Rivers’ thoughts. That was especially important with Thibodeau’s decision in Minnesota, where, like Rivers, he’s also accepting the role as president of basketball operations.
“He’s given me great advice on that as well,” said Thibodeau, who learned the importance of a head coach understanding the managerial side watching Rivers interact with Celtics general manager Danny Ainge in Boston. “He didn’t have the title in Boston, but he had tremendous input. He and Danny had a great relationship together, so I learned a lot from that as well.”
The conversations between Rivers and Thibodeau go beyond basketball, but whether coaching in the East, out of a job entirely or coaching in the West, their relationship won’t change – nor will Thibodeau’s willingness to reach out to the man whose staff he coached on for years.
“Any major decision, I bounced off him,” Thibodeau said. “I have absolute respect for the things he’s done and the things he’s been through.”