Kevin Garnett Details Doc Rivers' Secret Cash Gambit at Lakers' Arena
During an early-season road trip, the Celtics coach collected money from the locker room to convince his squad they were destined for a Game 7 return.
Doc Rivers was willing to test unconventional psychological tactics to ensure the Boston Celtics believed they would be competing for a championship.
Looking back on the 2009-10 season, former Celtics star Kevin Garnett shared how Rivers orchestrated a bold motivational challenge during an early-season visit to face the Los Angeles Lakers. As reported by TalkBasket, Rivers collected cash from everyone inside the Boston locker room and hid the pool of money inside the ceiling of the Lakers' arena.
The audacious move was crafted to plant an unshakable expectation in his players' minds: they were destined to return to Los Angeles at the end of the year to play Game 7 of the NBA Finals. By leaving their money behind in the venue rafters, Rivers gave the roster a tangible reason to battle their way back to claim what was theirs.
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