Doc Rivers On Sports Parents Seeking More Playing Time

Doc Rivers (@DocRivers) is the head coach for the Los Angeles Clippers and a PCA National Advisory Board Member. He had a stellar playing career with Marquette University and several NBA teams before moving on to coach the Orlando Magic and then the Celtics, whom he led to the 2008 NBA Championship. Rivers is also a prominent sports parent, most notably as father of Austin Rivers, who played at Duke University before joining the New Orleans Pelicans in 2012.

In this video, Rivers shares his approach as a sports parent when his kids sought help getting more playing time during their youth sports days. Rivers never went to the coach to request more playing time for his children; instead he used it as a teachable moment, explaining to his children what motivates a coach and encouraging them to focus on what they can control and earn their playing time. If your children complain about playing time, talk to them about what they can do at practice to get their minutes to go up during game situations. This might involve working harder or spending time outside of practice on a skill. It also might mean encouraging your child to have an honest conversation with the coach. Most importantly, Rivers believes that kids need to learn to earn their playing time and it’s not the parent’s role to talk to the coach about this coaching decision.