The Philadelphia 76ers’ season ended in disappointing fashion against the Boston Celtics in Game 7. After having had the opportunity to close the series out at home, the Sixers were unable to get the job done and got embarrassed in the deciding game in Boston.
Joel Embiid and James Harden both received their share of the blame for the loss, but Doc Rivers was also responsible to an extent. And the franchise has now fired Rivers from his position as the Head Coach.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1658491168047464448
Adrian Wojnarowski expanded on the decision to fire Rivers in his article for ESPN, naming the candidates that the Sixers will be looking at to replace Rivers: “The Philadelphia 76ers dismissed coach Doc Rivers on Tuesday, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. The Sixers’ search for a new coach is expected to include Mike Budenholzer, Sam Cassell, Mike D’Antoni, Nick Nurse, Frank Vogel, and Monty Williams, sources told ESPN.”
The Sixers have become the latest team to fire their coach, the Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, and Toronto Raptors have all done the same after the conclusion of their season. Doc Rivers coached the Sixers for three seasons and was unable to lead them past the Eastern Conference Semifinals in any of them, losing at that point in every year.
Doc Rivers’ Playoff Record And Reportedly Poor Relationship With James Harden May Have Been Driving Factors
Doc Rivers is a championship-winning coach, but he was never able to take the team to even a Conference Finals. He has blown leads in the playoffs quite a bit too, having lost a 3-1 series lead and a 3-2 series lead during his time with the team. Furthermore, James Harden reportedly didn’t want to play for Rivers anymore, either.
“James Harden was not all that supportive of Doc Rivers in his press conference yesterday. Behind the scenes, from what I’m told, one person said to me it would be hard for me to see James wanting to come back and play for Doc again. This is going to be a situation where those two decisions are linked.”
With rumors of Harden joining the Houston Rockets, perhaps this move has been made with the idea of keeping him and Joel Embiid together. Doc Rivers departs after three seasons with an overall record of 154-82. The future now seems uncertain both for the coach as well as the franchise.
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