LONDON – Thirty years ago, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers watched his final shot bounce awry, and the Soviets responded with a frantic, frenzied celebration in the heart of a throbbing Central American arena. Soon, the young American guard stood sobbing in the middle of it all. Between the United States' Moscow Olympics boycott in 1980 and a Los Angeles basketball gold medal in '84, Rivers staggered off the floor at the 1982 world championships, devastated over the defeat.

"We had to stand in line for our medals, and I wanted to throw the thing in the garbage," Rivers said Tuesday morning over breakfast on the city's Canary Wharf.

"Silver [expletive] medal."

After the public-address announcer in Cali, Colombia, summoned Rivers to accept his MVP trophy, 10, perhaps 20, seconds passed, and United States coach Bob Weltlich implored him: "Doc, you have to go get that trophy. YOU HAVE TO GET IT!"

Hours later, Rivers tried to leave the trophy in the hotel lobby as the Americans departed for the airport, only to have some coaches or staff scoop it up and run the award back to him. "Bobby Knight [the '84 Olympic coach] was on the trip," Rivers says, "and I remember him telling me right afterward: 'You're on the Olympic team. Just stay in school, and you're on the team.' "





Rivers has no regrets about leaving Marquette for the NBA draft in the spring of 1983, missing his chance to play with Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, and Wayman Tisdale in the summer of '84. If Rivers had naively trusted the word of an NBA executive who promised he'd select him in the first round, only to drop into the second, the choice never haunted him. After 13 seasons as an excellent NBA guard, Rivers has used his 13 years since to develop into one of the NBA's elite coaches. He's blended his abilities as a leader and a tactician to create a model owners everywhere keep trying to emulate in hiring.

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He's come to London to work in the studio for NBC Sports on Olympic basketball, but his trip's been an excuse to grab a notebook and visit Spain and Brazil and Argentina practices. He has a resumé with USA Basketball, including one job as a gold-medal assistant in the Goodwill Games. USA Basketball will be searching for a national team coach in 2016, and however the structure of Olympic basketball changes, Rivers is an ideal candidate.

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich deserves the foremost consideration, but that will never happen with Jerry Colangelo running USA Basketball and Mike Krzyzewski staying on in some kind of emeritus role. It's a shame, because Popovich has a peerless NBA and international coaching resumé. If a mutual distaste with Colangelo won't allow Popovich the opportunity, Rivers deserves close examination.

He's the best coach for the traditional Olympic format of NBA stars, or the proposed under-23 change that could include his son, Austin Rivers. His son, the 10th overall pick of the New Orleans Hornets last month, is part of a late-teen generation of players the Celtics coach has watched grow and develop with Austin. "To represent your country is the absolute best honor," Rivers said, "and if you ever get the opportunity, it would be hard to turn down."

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