First things first, to the Suns fans, this is not a declaration that the Suns should hire Doc Rivers as their Head Coach.

But this is a declaration as to why as an organization that has not been on the other side of losing the Championship, should at least hear what a man that has been there has to say.

All of those that want to reach back in the bag of tricks and pull out current records and stats that show all of Doc’s failures as a coach are missing the bottom line, and that’s the reality that he has completed that journey that many coaches have failed to complete.

How many Championships does it take to call one a Championship coach or player? The answer is simple, just one.

I would not be surprised if the Phoenix Suns interview Doc Rivers for their head coaching vacancy.

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) May 19, 2023

So before you rest your thinking on the surface, here are reasons why that thinking could stop the next perfect match between coach and players from happening.

For all of you surface dwellers that only see things on the surface in front of you, there are deeper things involved when it comes to a coach leading a team to a championship.

First, so much has to go your way outside of your control.

Star players that have the killer instinct factor are essential and without that guy or guys, there will be no chance for a Chip.

Then you need perfect complimentary pieces around them that allow the killers to be killers a bit easier in clutch moments.

Then the element that controls what no man can control, pure unadulterated LUCK.

Luck is an element that no coach has control of, it just presents itself at its own place and time. Health is its first victim and a coach has no control over which victim it chooses. 

Gotta stay somewhat healthy through a playoff run, and we say “somewhat” because there will never be a team that has absolutely no injuries and every guy is dealing with after a long 82 games and all of the playoffs as well.

But Luck has a lot to do with the end result, there are events that luckily have to go your way, 

Like landing your toe half an inch more to get behind the 3-point line and eliminate the eventual Champion that year.

Or a bounce of the ball on the rim that goes one way rather than the other that sends another killer to a championship and eliminate the team that was predicted to win.

Or simply as a call or no call that determines the outcome, in other words, the stars all must align in your favor to work together to win it all and that’s not all on just the coach.

Again, Suns fans I’m not saying Doc Rivers should be hired as the next coach here in the Valley, but the Suns as an organization that has never won a Title can afford to at least interview a guy that has been there no matter how long ago it was.

Because I can guarantee, that when he won it back in 2009 with the Celtics he had all of these elements line up in his favor and the bottom line is he knows how it looks at the top. 

And who is to say that the stars can’t line up with this group of players here Devin Booker and Kevin Durant as your backbone?

It all starts with star players with a killer instinct where the moment is never too big, guys that are not worried about failing or concerned about their past failures.

All that matters is when he has the chance to show up and show out, he or she is there and can be counted on. There may be a question for the Suns two stars the last few times they exited the Playoffs, but this mix of stars needs a few more opportunities to determine if it works or not. 

Since the Celtic run Doc Rivers has not had the Players with the killer-like instinct in any of his opportunities to make it back to win a title. 

In fact, he has had a bunch of guys that had some choke elements going on in their careers.

Paul George was known for not showing up in playoffs his first few years in the league and later blamed Doc for his use in a losing series.

Joel Embiid and James Harden have clearly not had the clutch killer instinct in any closeout of a series that could lead them to make the Finals, and it looked like they wanted no part of how hard the task was to complete the job.

We all just watched the end of the current series where they had the Celtics on the ropes and failed to show up in the series’ biggest moments to decide a winner.

Doc cannot be blamed for this lack of mental toughness, as both stars decide not to show up, or the moment is way too big for them to rise up to.

Rivers can only lead them to the strategy it takes to be successful, but he cannot go out there on the floor and execute the game plan for his star players.

Doc Rivers won the championship in 2009 when he had two killer instinct players that rose up in the game’s crucial moments and that is the first element that has to be in place. I still believe that Booker and Durant are the types of players an experienced and proven coach like Rivers can start with.

We do have those coaches that have won multiple Championships and again, the key element they had was the killer instinct players first and a complimentary set of role guys that were predominately healthy and the stars lined up for them to win multiple times. 

Coaches like Steve Kerr, Phil Jackson, and Greg Popovic have all had the formula for lining up the stars and getting multiple titles, and that starts with the star players that bring it every time without question.

Killers like Micheal Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, and Stephen Curry all have been staples in their respective teams’ crucial moments to win Titles.

Getting the perfect fit of players and coach is like playing the lottery, with many different gambling strategies, but luck is what aligns the winner to their winnings.

So it’s unfair to hear all of the grumblings that Doc Rivers isn’t qualified to lead a team to the promised land,  cause that’s a false personal attack on a man that has actually been a part of the winning elements that yielded a Championship team.

We live in a world of absolutes. 

It’s only right as an organization that has never had a coach to finish the deal, that Doc Rivers as a qualified candidate should get at least an opportunity to sit down and tell the Suns how he did it back in 2009. There are things Doc can reach back to at that moment in time that can help him teach a team how to complete the job.

Because he has done it, period.

The same argument can be made for Nick Nurse and Mike Bootyholeser, even though they have done it once that’s all it takes to be called a champion.