Atlanta Hawks: 15 best NBA Draft picks of all-time

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Guard Doc Rivers of the Atlanta Hawks tries to fend off guard Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls during a game at the Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. /

If you can remember back far enough, you might remember Doc Rivers not as an NBA head coach, but as a high-end point guard for the Hawks. Rivers was a standout at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He went to Atlanta No. 31 overall in the 1983 NBA Draft. Rivers would play eight of his 14 NBA seasons with the team that drafted him.

Rivers was the floor general for the Hawks when Dominique Wilkins was in his prime in the 1980s. After his rookie season, Rivers was a consistent 10 points, 5.5 assists per game in Hawks uniform. His best year came in Atlanta in 1987-88 when he made his lone NBA All-Star Game roster. That season saw Rivers average 14.2 points, 9.3 assists and 1.8 steals in 31.3 minutes per contest. He would win the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award as a member of the Hawks.

In 1991, Rivers would be traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in a deal for a first-round pick that would end up being guard Stacey Augmon. He would play a few more seasons with the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs before retiring in 1996. Though a common figure in the NBA playoffs, he would not win an NBA championship until he became a head coach.

Rivers is on his third stint as an NBA coach. He won NBA Coach of the Year in 2000 with the division rival Orlando Magic. Rivers led the 2007-08 Boston Celtics to their most recent NBA Championship. He now leads the Los Angeles Clippers. While the Clippers are in a state of flux, Rivers brought stability to an otherwise chaotic basketball franchise. Rivers is one of the greatest point guards in Hawks history and one of the best coaches of the last decade.