After missing out in his first year of eligibility in 2025, Doc Rivers finally made the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026. The sixth-winningest coach in NBA regular-season history is now using his own induction to push for other coaches he believes belong in the Hall.
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“I honestly think coaching wise, Rick Carlisle should be next,” said Rivers to the media. “If I could change one thing, it’s not. I always remember I felt like George Karl should have been in five years before he was in, and it bothered me. I don’t know why it bothered me. Because, you know, college coaches can go in in the middle of their career. I just felt like it had been great for George, you know, to be called George Karl Hall of Fame coach.
“That would have helped his resume and stay in longer and do this like that. And you know, I just wish we did that more, where coaches like Steve Kerr should be in the Hall of Fame. And so why isn’t it? And there’s no actual reason for that. So I wish we changed that.”
Doc Rivers has a particular reason for feeling strongly about the issue. He said he had originally been told that coaches needed to retire before becoming eligible, only to learn later that this was not the case.
Under the current rules, a coach can become eligible while still active after completing 25 years of full-time coaching experience and reaching age 60. Retired coaches can become eligible after four full seasons away from coaching.
While Rivers is campaigning for Kerr, the Warriors head coach is not currently eligible as an active coach under the 25-year rule. He became the head coach of Golden State in 2014, giving him roughly 12 years of NBA head-coaching experience.
Even with his four NBA championships and nine NBA Finals appearances as a head coach, he has not yet reached the required 25 years of coaching experience. Carlisle, however, is a different story.
He is eligible under the active-coach rule. Carlisle began his NBA coaching career as an assistant in 1989 and has since spent decades coaching at the highest level, including head-coaching stints with the Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers and Dallas Mavericks.
He is also over 60 and has well beyond 25 years of coaching experience. His résumé includes an NBA championship with Dallas in 2011 and the 2025 Eastern Conference title with Indiana. So why isn’t Carlisle already in?
Eligibility only puts a coach into consideration. It does not guarantee a nomination, finalist spot or induction. Just like Doc Rivers missed out, similarly, Carlisle is yet to receive the required votes from the Honors Committee. zzzz George Karl’s case is even more complicated.
Rivers suggested Karl’s Hall of Fame status might have helped preserve his coaching career. Karl last coached in 2016 and was eventually inducted with the Class of 2022. Importantly, Karl was not simply “five years late” because of a Hall eligibility rule. In fact, the NBA reported that Karl was first eligible in 2013. His eventual induction in 2022, therefore, reflected a long wait for selection, not a mandatory eligibility delay.
That is ultimately what bothers Doc Rivers.