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NBA opening training facilities
NBA opening training facilities

Doc Rivers leads the way in giving Digital Coaching Advice

Doc Rivers gave Rams coach Sean McVay advice on how to be a virtual coach

Coaches from the sporting world are learning how to deal with a digital coaching environment, and they're looking to Doc Rivers for advice.

According to an article by LA Times writer Gary Klein, Rams coach Sean McVay reached out to Clippers coach Doc Rivers on becoming a virtual coach. The biggest piece of advice Rivers had? Keep it short.

In Klein's article, "McVay said Rivers and other NBA coaches say that 12 to 20 minutes is the ideal length of online meetings with players." McVay's goal is to make the group conferences "educational, entertaining, and engaging."

There is no timetable for when the COVID-19 pandemic will end. If the NBA season returns, they will likely be the first major sporting league to return in a pandemic world. The opportunity to have physical group coaching interactions will be limited, and everything will be a learning experience. 

Doc Rivers will likely be one of the pioneers in that learning experience. The Clippers were already one of the first reported teams to use Zoom videoconferences for team workouts, and will likely continue into that digital space. Rivers needs to become a professional in that digital coaching space.

As Rivers becomes that professional, other coaches like Sean McVay will reach out to him for advice. The entire sporting world is looking to see how the NBA will handle playing in a COVID-19 world. How will the nuances of coaching in games be different? Will plays still be called in the same way? As Doc Rivers heads into uncharted territory, he will open that path for other professional coaches.