Playing at home is viewed as a massive advantage for NBA teams but Doc Rivers claims that wasn’t the case when he was with the Philadelphia 76ers. Rivers was head coach of the 76ers for three seasons and during an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast, he threw some shade at their fans.
“Usually you play better at home. The only place that I thought it was difficult to play at home is in Philly, because of the crowd,” Rivers said. “I thought it affected our players some.”
Rivers wasn’t the most popular figure in Philadelphia following that tenure as head coach and he certainly wouldn’t have won over anyone with these comments. Sports fans in Philadelphia indeed have a reputation for being hard on their teams, so let’s have a look at how Rivers’ squads fared at the Wells Fargo Center.
76ers Home Record Under Doc Rivers:
2020-21: 29-7
2021-22: 24-17
2022-23: 29-12
Well, they had their best win rate at home in Rivers’ very first season. Incidentally, fans were not allowed to attend home games due to COVID-19 in that campaign. I suppose that might lend some credence to the claim made by Rivers there that the players found it difficult to play in Philadelphia.
We have even heard players be critical of the fans in the city over the years. Ben Simmons called out 76ers fans for constantly criticizing him when he played for the franchise. Danny Green once stated that 76ers fans should support the team when things aren’t going well instead of turning on them.
They can certainly be a bit too hard on the players at times. The 76ers fans would be quick to point out, though, that the team was great at home before Rivers arrived. They were 31-4 at home in 2019-20, so perhaps he needs to take a bit of the blame for things not going quite as well after he took over.
Doc Rivers Revealed Damian Lillard Was Out Of Shape Coming Into Training Camp
The 76ers fans weren’t the only ones who weren’t too happy with Rivers after this podcast episode came out. He managed to upset Milwaukee Bucks fans too, as Rivers said Damian Lillard came into training camp in the worst shape of his career.
“I didn’t even realize Dame was traded two or three days before training camp,” said Rivers. “We were at dinner, and he said, ‘Coach, I didn’t work out all summer. It’s the first time in my life that I’ve not worked out. I was so scared of getting injured working out. He knew he was gonna get traded. So, he said, ‘You know, I did some light running. I did some shooting with no one in the gym. But I didn’t go (hard) at all.’ He was honest about it, and that’s one of the reasons you love him. He said, ‘This is the worst shape I’ve ever been in.'”
I am not sure that needed to be said out loud. It seems like whenever Rivers opens his mouth nowadays, he says something that you wish he hadn’t. His comments do perhaps explain why Lillard struggled in his first season with the Bucks.
Lillard averaged 24.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game in 2023-24. He didn’t come anywhere close to living up to expectations but maybe things will be better next season when he comes in better prepared.
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