Report: Rivers to coach the Celtics

The Boston Globe reported that the move to hire the former NBA coach of the year could come as early as Thursday.

Rivers was fired by the Orlando Magic this past season in the early going after a 1-10 start.

Rivers had been the Orlando coach since June 7, 1999 and produced a 171-168 record. In his tenure, the Magic have made the playoffs three seasons. The 13-year veteran as a player, Rivers was honored as NBA Coach of the Year in 1999-2000.

Rivers did not stay unemployed for long last season as ABC Sports hired him as an analyst.

After the season Boston announced that interim head coach John Carroll would not return for the 2004-2005 season.

Carroll took over for the final 36 games of the season after head coach Jim O’Brien resigned due to differences with Danny Ainge, the team’s director of basketball operations.

The 48-year-old Carroll finished with a 14-22 record, but still guided Boston into the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Celtics, though, suffered a four-game sweep at the hands of top-seeded Indiana.