Doc Rivers Diss Track Might Be Nail In Coffin For Ex-Celtics Coach

NBA coaches’ careers can survive a lot. Heck, teams kept giving Mike Woodson head coaching jobs for years, and there’s no guarantee he won’t be back headlining a bench one day.

But while a coach’s job often can survive criticism regarding rotations, playcalls and locker room management, a well-crafted rap song is about as fatal as it gets.

The diss track “Coaches Become Sales Reps” by Twitter user @PrezzCarter won’t win any production value awards, but it lands multiple blows to the Philadelphia 76ers coach’s reputation. Celtics fans who still harbor warm and fuzzy feelings over Banner 17 might want to shy away, but anyone eager for a chuckle should give it a listen — although be warned, there’s some explicit content.

It seems like forever ago when Rivers was such a sought-after commodity, the Los Angeles Clippers had to work out a blockbuster deal to hire him away from the Celtics. In the 10 years since he departed Boston, Rivers has led his teams to gradually declining win totals and done nothing noteworthy in the playoffs.

The lackluster performance can’t be blamed on a shortage of talent, either. While Rivers’ success in Boston was built around Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, he’s had the privilege of coaching the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Joel Embiid and James Harden since then. Beyond middling on-court results, however, Rivers has found himself the butt of jokes like this diss track and an alleged Twitter hack.

Losing? That can take time to cost a coach his job. Mockery? That tends to be harder to overcome.