Doc Rivers: Leaving Celtics a ‘Non-Issue’

BOSTON — Reports of Doc Rivers' departure were greatly exaggerated.

On Wednesday morning, a story broke in the Boston Herald speculating that the Rivers, the Celtics’ head coach for the past six seasons, was considering stepping down to spend more time with his family. That same evening, Rivers addressed the media to insist there was nothing to worry about.

"This is old news," Rivers said before the Celtics' season finale Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. "It really is. I don't think about it, to be honest. Every summer, I do the same thing. I go home and get away from it for a while and make a decision. [This summer] is no different from last summer or the summer before that. I was really just amused at this question, because I thought this was old news."

Skeptics have pointed out that because of the ups and downs of this season — the Celtics began the regular season 23-5 and have been inconsistent since, going 27-26 — the Boston coaching job may have been more stressful this year than in seasons past. Rivers, however, tries to focus on the big picture, rather than being bogged down by the day-to-day minutiae of winning and losing basketball games.

"I think if you thought about it every game, you would go a different way each game," Rivers said. "When you win, you say, 'Man, I'm going to do this forever,' and when you lose, it's, 'Man, I think I'm leaving.' That's just human nature. But other than that, I can tell you that as a family, we haven't talked about it at all. We don't even talk about it. It's a non-issue."

Right now, the only issue on the Celtics' minds is finishing the regular season strong. The C's tip off against the Bucks at 8 p.m. at the TD Garden.