Doc: Lakers owed Jackson better treatment

During his Tuesday morning appearance on Dennis & Callahan, Doc Rivers questioned the Lakers' decision to fire Mike Brown after just five games. Rivers later appeared on SiriusXM's Mad Dog Radio, and he noted that the team's handling of Phil Jackson wasn't very good, either.

The Lakers entered into negotiations with Jackson to return to the bench but suddenly switched course and offered the job to Mike D'Antoni, catching Jackson by surprise.

"I didn't like the way it was done," Rivers told host Chris Russo [1]. "I don't think you embarrass anybody."

Added Rivers: "Whether you like Phil or not, he's won a lot of titles and I think he was owed more than that treatment, in my opinion, especially [from] that franchise."

That said, Rivers told D&C that the new coach should do just fine.

"I do think Mike D'Antoni's a good fit," Rivers said. "I think he's an excellent fit. With the size that they have, the style that they probably need to play, more pick-and-roll, more open-court, I think it's an excellent fit."

Summed up Rivers in his SiriusXM interview: "I thought they could have handled that better. At the end of the day, I think they got their man [in D'Antoni]."

The Celtics host the Lakers Feb. 7 and then travel to Los Angeles on Feb. 20.

To listen to Rivers' WEEI interview, go to the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page [2]. For more Celtics news, visit the team page at weei.com/celtics [3].