Brooklyn Nets: Celtics Say ‘No Way’ to Doc Rivers Talks

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Doc Rivers still has three years and $21 million remaining on his contract with the Boston Celtics. The Brooklyn Nets were denied permission to speak to the Celtics’ coach about their vacant head coaching gig. (Flickr.com photo by Keith Allison)

The Brooklyn Nets apparently still want to make a big splash with their head coaching vacancy, but according to ESPNBoston.com, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers won’t be the guy taking the plunge.

The website reported Thursday night, May 23, that Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has denied the Nets permission to talk to Rivers about their coaching job.

Brooklyn has been without a coach since May 5, when the team announced that interim coach P.J. Carlesimo would not be retained. Carlesimo led the team to a 35-19 record after replacing Avery Johnson in late December and forced the Chicago Bulls to a seventh game in the first round of the playoffs after falling behind 3-1 in the series.

Ainge wouldn’t talk about the Nets’ reported interest in Rivers and instead simply stated he expects the former NBA Coach of the Year to be back on Boston’s bench next season.

"Doc has told me he’s coming back. I talk to him almost every day about our team and what we are going to do moving forward.–Danny Ainge, Boston Celtics president of basketball operations"

Carlesimo, who has already been hired by ESPN as an analyst, says the title aspirations of owner Mikhail Prokhorov aren’t realistic.

Former Brooklyn coach P.J. Carlesimo doesn’t buy the Nets as title contenders. Photo Credit: Mark Runyan, Basketball Schedule

“I still would not call them one of the favorites,” Carlesimo told the New York Daily News. “I wouldn’t put that on whoever is lucky enough to get the coaching job. I think it’s a team that could win a lot of games. I think it’s a 50-win team, a playoff team and a team that could do well, particularly in the Eastern Conference. But to win a championship is a bear.”

Carlesimo also believes that Johnson was not given a fair shake by the organization.

“You got the two years of getting your head knocked off while they were getting the roster together and getting the salary cap right and all that,” Carlesimo said. “Then when the team had a very representative team to put out there and you had all the great things that we enjoyed this year in Brooklyn, (Johnson) didn’t get a chance to reap the benefits of those two years, which was unfortunate.”

According to the Daily News, Brooklyn has already been turned down by former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson and the Nets now have more competition for coaching candidates with the Los Angeles Clippers decision to not retain Vinny Del Negro.

Other teams still with coaching vacancies include the Milwaukee Bucks, Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Bobcats and the Philadelphia 76ers, with the Atlanta Hawks and Phoenix Suns also expected to be in the market for a new guy for the lead chair on their respective benches.

Two potential candidates for Brooklyn—Indiana Pacers assistant coach Brian Shaw and Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins—can’t be approached until their teams are out of the playoffs.

Other names on the Nets’ radar are reported to be former Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan—who coached Brooklyn point guard Deron Williams for more than five seasons in Utah—and Scott Skiles, who has coached in Phoenix, Chicago and Milwaukee.