Philadelphia 76ers: Watch a drenched Doc Rivers celebrate his 1,000th win

Doc Rivers coached his first NBA game on November 2nd, 1999.

It was a loss.

He didn’t record his first win until one day later on November 3rd, when his Orlando Magic secured a 103-94 win over the not-so-Bad Boy Pistons, who finished out the season 42-40.

From there, Rivers won a ton more games, include a particularly impactful one on June 17th, 2008, and took his services from the Eastern Conference, to the West, and back to East once more, where he calls the City of Brotherly Love home as the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.

And on November 6th, a full 8,040 days after logging that initial win over the Detroit Pistons, Glenn “Doc” Rivers recorded his 1,000th career W, and you’d best believe the Philadelphia 76ers made it a celebration to remember once he returned to the locker room.

The Philadelphia 76ers celebrated Doc Rivers’ momentus win in wet and wild fashion.

In the world of sports, the greatest sign of admiration for a coaching job well done is a Gatorade bath.

The tradition, which started back in 1984 when then-Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka secured a big win over the Minnesota Vikings, has transcended its meager origins to become a fixture of the American sports landscape, right up there with riots after wins and climbing greased light poles for… some reason.

There is, however, a problem in the NBA when it comes to a Gatorade bath; teams don’t have Gatorade coolers at the end of their bench like a high school Jv team.

No, to celebrate a momentus occasion like, say, winning a 1,000th career win, a team’s players have to get creative to celebrate their coach’s accomplishment in a wet and watery way.

Fortunately, the Philadelphia 76ers happen to have one of the most creative minds in the NBA who just so happens to know very well how to pull off some mischief, as you will see below if you haven’t already.

Is it just me, or did Joel Embiid just almost kill Doc Rivers with that very aggressive water bucket toss? I know Rivers is a big dude, but that is straight-up terrifying.

Awarded the game ball for a job well done, Rivers gave a few remarks about the team’s collective ability to thrive in the face of adversity, and danced around like a genuinely happy camper in what will surely not be the final win he’ll record this season.

Heck, maybe Damian Lillard will see the fun Philly is having in their locker room and finally request, no, demand a trade to Philadelphia to join in on the fun? I mean, probably not but hey, that would certainly be something.

No matter where he goes, Doc Rivers gets a lot of flack for his coaching tendencies. He doesn’t use his timeouts well, stinks at challenging plays, and gets way too committed to his rotations even when they aren’t working. Have plenty of players voiced their displeasure with his coaching style? Most definitely, but this current crop of Philadelphia 76ers players appear to genuinely like playing for him and want to celebrate in his accomplishments, even if the vast majority of those wins came in Boston and Los Angeles.