Doc Rivers is an extremely respected coach who won the 2008 NBA championship with the Boston Celtics. Before his recent time with the Philadelphia 76ers, Doc Rivers coached the Los Angeles Clippers, who had superstars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. After the Clippers fired Doc Rivers, he was in limbo, but eventually, he signed with the 76ers to coach Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
On the recent ‘All The Smoke’ podcast, Doc Rivers revealed why exactly he chose the 76ers. It made sense that he would want to coach some young stars, and possibly win another championship.
The Philly job was just so interesting to me because of Ben and Joel. I knew Tobias was there, and I’d coached him. And I thought I could get to him as well.
So, you know, this group, it just needed a change like culture. That just wasn’t as much as on the floor. We had to change just the culture all around on the floor, in the office, in our development, everything.
They allowed me to come in and do that. Elton at the start, who was the main guy and didn’t we bring in Darryl so just having that group behind me and allow me to do the things that I need to do that I think helps us win because they’ve been amazing.
Doc Rivers has definitely breathed new life into the 76ers, and they are dominating the Eastern Conference this year. While it remains to be seen if they could get to the NBA Finals, they are certainly on the right track under Rivers’ tutelage.
