BOSTON — The Boston Celtics coaching job was only open a few hours when Danny Ainge decided that Doc Rivers was the guy he wanted.
That doesn't mean the Celtics' basketball boss didn't give it a lot of thought.
"The search probably started at the 1988 All-Star Game," Ainge said on Thursday after hiring his teammate from the Eastern Conference team that year. "A friendship probably started there and a mutual respect."
Rivers was hired to replace interim coach John Carroll, who was let go a day after the Celtics were swept from the first round of the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers. Carroll inherited the job when Jim O'Brien quit Jan. 27 because of philosophical differences with Ainge.
"As soon as Jim O'Brien left, I started contemplating what we might do for our future," Ainge said. "Doc was someone I thought of right away."
Ainge announced on Monday that Carroll wouldn't be back. Then Ainge went to Orlando to interview Rivers.
"Danny Ainge called me and asked me to coach the Boston Celtics," Rivers said. "If you like basketball, I don't know how you could say no to that."
He wasted little time making an impression in his new city. Wearing a green Red Sox jersey and hat, Rivers threw out the first pitch before the second game of Boston's doubleheader with Tampa Bay on Thursday night.
Rivers played 13 seasons for the Hawks, Clippers, Knicks and Spurs, starring on the 1986 Atlanta team that the Celtics beat in the second round on their way to their last NBA title.
He retired in 1996 and worked as a TV analyst before becoming the head coach in Orlando in 1999. In his first season, he was the NBA's coach of the year after leading a team with four undrafted starters to a .500 record.
Rivers went 171-168 in five seasons with Orlando before he was fired in November when the Magic opened the season with one win and 10 consecutive losses. He has been working for ABC as an analyst ever since, a job he will keep through the NBA Finals.