NBA Update: Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers undergoes a successful throat surgery
On Tuesday, the Boston Celtics confirmed that their head coach Doc Rivers went through a surgery for a non-cancerous escalation on his throat. Rivers went through the procedure in Boston, upon his return from Orlando.
The Celtics also confirmed that the surgery was successful and the doctors removed the harmful ‘benign polyp’ from Rivers’ throat. In a statement, Rivers expressed gratitude to everyone, "I'm doing great, thank you to everyone for checking in on me. I can't
talk for two weeks, which I'm sure makes my players and family extremely happy. On a serious note, I urge all coaches to get their throats checked. We put a lot of stress on our vocal cords during the course of a season."
Doc’s younger son Austin Rivers, who plays as a guard at Winter Park High School and is considered as a top prospect in the country, was also present during the procedure. Austin updated the following message on his social networking website account after
his father’s treatment: "Please everybody pray for my dad he just got done with his surgery today on his throat! Hope he recovers okay!!"
Austin was the top shooting guard in the class of 2011 and won the wooden spoon award. He will attend Duke University in the fall and will play for Coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Rivers has just signed a five year – 35 million dollars contract extension with the Celtics. The veteran coach has been struggling with the ailment since last season. To verify whether the lesions found on his throat were cancerous, Rivers underwent a biopsy
last year in mid of October.
Rivers revealed that it was Jim O’Brien, the former coach of the Celtics, who urged him for annual tests on his throat and now Doc himself is spreading the word around.
During the last three years, River went through yearly examinations on his throat and vocal chords. It was during the last of those examinations, that doctors found a worry spot on his throat and forced him to go through the biopsy. Later the tests showed
that lesions were non-cancerous, but had to be removed.
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