Doc Rivers is trading in his whistle for a headset. Fresh off his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this summer, the championship-winning head coach just landed a job at his son Austin Rivers’ workplace!
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Yes, he is officially joining NBC Sports as a game analyst for the upcoming 2026–27 season across NBC, Peacock, and NBCSN.
“I loved playing the game, I loved coaching it, and I’ve always loved talking about it,” said Rivers about his new role. “I have great memories working with NBC, and I’m excited to be back and share my perspective alongside such a talented team. This season should be a lot of fun. I can’t wait.”
The move also creates a unique history: they will become the first father-son duo in which both members are former NBA players who work as analysts for the same network. It goes without saying that fans would love to see the two engage in some banter, just like in 2025, when Austin Rivers interviewed his father for NBC.
–“Doc, you guys are 8-6 on the year,” Austin mentioned.
–The father responded: “Doc? That’s my name?”
–Austin: “Tonight… Have you watched on the bench, and are you excited about me tonight, kind of hovering around your huddles?”
–Doc: “You’ve hovered around me my whole life. So, this part will be easy, right? I’m hoping. Don’t say anything that you shouldn’t say.”
Fans found the back-and-forth quite hilarious.
Interestingly, Doc Rivers’ move to NBC brings closure to a story that began 30 years ago. Here’s how:
After retiring as an NBA point guard in 1996, Rivers received a broadcast offer from NBC. However, he turned down then-NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol because he could not commit to a full-time television career without keeping the door open to coaching. Now, three decades later, after putting together one of the most prolific coaching resumes in basketball history, Rivers is finally accepting the gig on his own terms.
“I honestly can say I’m absolutely retired,” Rivers said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I had a long run. It ended up in the Hall of Fame, and I am so thankful that I was able to coach and play as long as I did. For the first time, I can focus on giving TV my 100% attention, which I’m really looking forward to.
“With this opportunity, one of the things I thought was I’d love to work with Austin. That would be a lot of fun to be able to work with him.
“It’s funny when you think about half the staff, I’ve either coached or been the father. I had a fight with Reggie [Miller], which is even funnier. So it’s pretty cool how connected I am to all the talent.”
There is definitely some truth to that last statement. Over the years, Rivers has coached five stars who played against Reggie Miller (NBC’s lead analyst) and later joined the same network as analysts. His own son, Austin, and Jamal Crawford (Los Angeles Clippers), Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill (Orlando) and Brian Scalabrine (Boston) are on that list.
Rivers stepped down from coaching the Milwaukee Bucks at the end of the 2025-26 regular season, when the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Bucks missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Their 32-50 record marked the end of the second-longest active playoff streak. And only a day later, major news surfaced.
As the team went through a major transition, Rivers hit refresh.
What Doc Rivers is excited to bring to NBC
Doc Rivers brings nearly four decades of premier NBA experience to NBC’s broadcast booth. He spent 27 seasons as an NBA head coach with the Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, and Bucks.
He wrapped up his coaching career ranking sixth all-time in regular-season victories with a 1,194–866 record, while his 114 playoff wins rank fourth in league history behind only Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, and Gregg Popovich.
Named one of the Top 15 Coaches in NBA History during the league’s 75th-anniversary celebration, Rivers previously guided Boston to the 2008 NBA championship. No wonder NBC is happy to have him.
“We couldn’t be happier to have him back on the NBC Sports team,” said NBC Sports executive producer and president Sam Flood. “Having led the Celtics to the 2008 NBA title with nearly four decades of NBA experience between coaching and playing, we are excited to add another Hall of Famer to our roster.”
Plus, Rivers’ television credentials run deep. Before his coaching career took off in Orlando in 1999, he worked as a game analyst for Turner Sports. He later went to ESPN in 2004 and 2023, and previously joined NBC’s coverage as a studio analyst during the 2012 London Olympics.
As the 2026–27 NBA season prepares to tip off on Tuesday, Oct. 20, on NBC and Peacock, Rivers enters the booth at a time of seismic league realignment. Opening night features a marquee matchup with the defending-champion New York Knicks hosting the Philadelphia 76ers in LeBron James’ 76ers debut.
Looking ahead to the upcoming campaign, Rivers admitted he had taken very few breaks in his life, and that this NBC opportunity was a way to stay connected to the game. The league veteran was already eager to share his “interesting perspective” and offered a preview of what fans can expect from his analysis:
“When you add Giannis [Antetokounmpo] going to Miami, LeBron going to Philadelphia, Indiana getting healthy, Cleveland a whole year now with [James] Harden and [Donovan] Mitchell—the East is going to be rough this year,” Rivers observed.
“The West, the top two teams are still the top two teams, San Antonio and Oklahoma. There’s two interesting teams: the Lakers, because they have Luka [Doncic], and Denver because they have [Nikola] Jokic.
“I think the much-watched team of the year will be Minnesota. It could go unbelievably well where [LaMelo] Ball and Ant [Anthony Edwards] figure it out, and they play well, or they could struggle. I mean, we just don’t know, but that’s a lot of talent on one team.”
By stepping into the booth alongside his son, Rivers transitions seamlessly from crafting game plans on the sidelines to offering unrivaled perspective for the next era of NBA broadcasting.