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Those Who Love the Game: Glenn "Doc" Rivers on Life in the Nba and Elsewhere
An NBA veteran joins forces with the author of What Hearts to chronicle the inside story of his life, from his Chicago neighborhood to college and competition on and off the court.
- GenresBasketball
159 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 26, 2026
Those Who Love the Game by Glenn “Doc” Rivers and Bruce Brooks is an inspiring and an honest look into Rivers life both on and off the court.
I rated it 4 stars because I enjoyed learning about his journey to the NBA and his experiences. Some chapters went very deep into basketball strategy and game details making it less engaging but the overall message about personal development, mental toughness, becoming a leader made the book meaningful. Rivers never presented himself as perfect, which made his lessons feel more genuine.
The book shows his early love for the game, his professional career, and his transition into coaching. Instead of only focusing on basketball and winning, Rivers reflects on the challenges he faced, including pressure, criticism, and balancing his life outside of the game. Rivers shares stories from different stages of his life to explain how he developed as a person. The book highlights how he views success coming from character and actions both on and off the court. He also shares personal moments from his life off the court, including how he balanced family with basketball, growing up in a tough environment, and dealing with inequality.
A theme in this story would be personal growth. As Rivers gains more experience in the league, his idea of success changes. He says, “It stands to reason that when you get further along in your career, when this teamwork means more and more to you, the only achievements that mean anything are the team achievements” (Rivers 84). As time went on it shows how his values change, beginning to value being a part of a team rather than individual recognition. His shift in mindset shows his personal growth because he learns that true success comes from contributing to something bigger than yourself. This matters because it shows that leadership is not about being the best player, but about earning the respect of others. When Rivers put his team first, it only benefited his teammates with being able to upgrade their team chemistry and to create a winning environment. His story shows that success means more, when it is shared among others.
I rated it 4 stars because I enjoyed learning about his journey to the NBA and his experiences. Some chapters went very deep into basketball strategy and game details making it less engaging but the overall message about personal development, mental toughness, becoming a leader made the book meaningful. Rivers never presented himself as perfect, which made his lessons feel more genuine.
The book shows his early love for the game, his professional career, and his transition into coaching. Instead of only focusing on basketball and winning, Rivers reflects on the challenges he faced, including pressure, criticism, and balancing his life outside of the game. Rivers shares stories from different stages of his life to explain how he developed as a person. The book highlights how he views success coming from character and actions both on and off the court. He also shares personal moments from his life off the court, including how he balanced family with basketball, growing up in a tough environment, and dealing with inequality.
A theme in this story would be personal growth. As Rivers gains more experience in the league, his idea of success changes. He says, “It stands to reason that when you get further along in your career, when this teamwork means more and more to you, the only achievements that mean anything are the team achievements” (Rivers 84). As time went on it shows how his values change, beginning to value being a part of a team rather than individual recognition. His shift in mindset shows his personal growth because he learns that true success comes from contributing to something bigger than yourself. This matters because it shows that leadership is not about being the best player, but about earning the respect of others. When Rivers put his team first, it only benefited his teammates with being able to upgrade their team chemistry and to create a winning environment. His story shows that success means more, when it is shared among others.
March 26, 2023
Great book for basketball aficionados.
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December 9, 2021The book "Those Who Love the Game" is a beautiful non-fiction description of the experiences and mentality of sports players. It shows how not everything is basketball and the mental hardships of humans experiencing professional sports. We learn about what happens in players' heads when they do something big and how that can affect their mental health negatively which is the opposite of what you would think. It shows the things that happened in Doc Rivers's life that helped him to be one of the best coaches and players of all time. It talks about how the basketball greats wouldn't have been where they are without being able to look at basketball as just a thing, not a life. How they can focus on the more important things and how that helps them be great. It has interviews from the best and even general fans about what basketball means to them and the experiences from Glenn "Doc" Rivers and the best of the best. This book is in my opinion the best overall description of what basketball is, how amazing it is and what it can do to a person.
March 20, 2008
Reading this book by one of my favorite Knicks left no doubt in my mind that Doc would become an NBA coach one day.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews