• Gilbert Arenas claims Doc Rivers stole the Philadelphia 76ers’ head coaching job from Tyronn Lue in 2020
• Lue replaced Rivers as head coach of the Clippers in 2020
• Rivers was fired by the 76ers this summer
Doc Rivers’ coaching career is on pause after he was sacked by the 76ers this summer and joined the ESPN commentary team. Gilbert Arenas has revealed that Rivers burnt bridges with Tyronn Lue to get the 76ers’ head coaching role in 2020, after helping Lue come into contention for the job before stealing the role after the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Bubble.
“Tyronn Lue was supposed to have that team. Doc sent Tyronn Lue to Philly and lobbied for him. ‘This is your guy, he’s a great coach, and this is gonna be good for you guys.’ It was a Game 7, Doc found out he was getting fired… He knew he was getting fired, so he called Philly and said, ‘I want the job now.’ You get backdoored like that, nothing good’s gonna happen.”
Gilbert Arenas claims he had info that Doc Rivers was lobbying Ty Lue to take the Sixers coaching job but after The Clippers blew a 3-1 lead in the bubble, Doc went behind Ty Lue's back and took the job. pic.twitter.com/jhxMuCp1v0
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) August 20, 2023
Rivers failed to live up to expectations with the 76ers, seeing his team get eliminated in the second round for three seasons in a row.
Every second-round series with Doc saw the team blow a series lead, a problem that finally ended with his sacking. He is being replaced by former Raptors’ coach and 2019 champion, Nick Nurse.
Tyronn Lue Has Been Handed A Tough Role
Being the head coach of the Clippers is no easy business. His first season with the team was arguably their best chance to win the title, as the team advanced to their first-ever Conference Finals in history. However, a Kawhi Leonard ACL tear meant that they would fail to beat the Suns and advance to the NBA Finals.
That ACL tear also meant that the Clippers wouldn’t even make the playoffs in 2022 due to a myriad of injuries over the year. The same problem hit them last year, as they were bounced in the first round without Leonard or Paul George available for most of the series.
He has performed well given the expectations, but there’s nothing he can do with such a volatile roster. His win-loss record with the Clippers has been 131-103, helping them go farther in the playoffs than Rivers ever did in his 7-year stint as head coach.
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