Toucher & Rich: Celtics Fans Welcome Back Doc Rivers With Cheers
A major point of debate leading up to Wednesday night's Celtics game was whether Boston fans would cheer or boo Doc Rivers in his return to the TD Garden. Once Doc emerged onto the court, however, there was little doubt how people felt.
The Boston fans cheered for Rivers, now the coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, for his nine years in Boston. Though the end of his coaching tenure wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, the fans on hand thanked him for the championship won in 2008 and the culture change that took place when he was at the helm.
"I did think that was one of the dumbest arguments as to whether or not he was going to get booed or cheered when he came back," Rich Shertenlieb said on Toucher & Rich on Thursday. "Obviously, it was a majority of cheers."
"A lot of people in media thought that he would get booed because of the way he went out," Fred Toucher said. "It's not like a player who left to get more money; he kind of screwed around and wasn't forthright. I could see booing Doc Rivers."
Of course, that didn't end up being the case.
"I've said it before and I said it with [the Bruins'] Tim Thomas: The fact that they helped bring you a championship should supersede all of that," Rich said.
Doc was clearly emotional after the game, which his Clippers won.
"I thought the fans were ... it was just a really nice day," Rivers said. "This is, it's just such a classy place here. So it was really nice. When I walked out, and I'm not used to walking out on that side, and all those people, they lined up, and I was basically useless for the first 18 minutes of the game I thought. It was just nice. It didn't surprise me, because that's just the way the way they are. You gotta live here to understand that. It's an amazing fanbase. It really is. I just want everything to go well for them."
Doc Rivers Cheered In Boston Return
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