Philadelphia 76 coach Doc Rivers round of the playoffs

The Philadelphia 76ers fired coach Doc Rivers on Tuesday following a third straight exit in the second round of the playoffs.


“Doc is one of the most successful coaches in NBA history, a future Hall of Famer, and someone I respect immensely,” 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said in a statement. “We’re grateful for all he did in his three seasons here and thank him for the important impact he made on our franchise. After having the chance to reflect upon our season, we decided that certain changes are necessary to further our goals of competing for a championship.”


Rivers led the 76ers to their second straight 50-win season behind NBA MVP Joel Embiid but again failed to lead them to the Eastern Conference Finals.


The 76ers held a 3-2 semi-finals series lead against Boston before dropping Game 6 at home and were crushed in Game 7 on the road.


Rivers fell to 6-10 in Game 7s. The 10 defeats are five more than any other NBA coach.


Rivers and the 76ers also lost a decisive Game 7 at home in the second round to Atlanta in 2021 as a No 1 seed. Embiid endorsed Rivers’ return following Sunday’s loss but James Harden was noncommittal about wanting him back.


Rivers had two years left on his contract and was 236-154 in three years with the Sixers. He won the 2008 NBA title as coach of the Boston Celtics.


Asked after the 112-88 thumping in Boston if he expected to be back next year, Rivers said: “Yeah. I think I got two years left. No one is safe in our business and I get that.”


He’s just the latest big name coach fired already during the postseason and the 76ers are sure to have their pick among the best in the game. Nick Nurse (Toronto) and Mike Budenholzer (Milwaukee) have been fired after both won championships since 2019 and former Sixers assistant Monty Williams, who coached Phoenix in the 2021 NBA finals, also is available.


Rivers took over before the 2020-21 season to replace Brett Brown, who was fired after the 76ers were swept in the first round of the playoffs.


Rivers himself had just been fired about two weeks after the Los Angeles Clippers wasted a 3-1 series lead and lost to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semi-finals.


He expected to coach a 76ers team seemingly on the brink of winning a title. Instead, he was on the bench for one of the worst losses in team history, a franchise-shifting loss to Atlanta in Game 7 that came on the heels of Ben Simmons failing to dunk an uncontested shot, which spiraled into a loss and the end of the All-Star guard’s tenure in Philly. Simmons never played for the 76ers again after Rivers and Embiid failed to publicly back the star following the loss, and the relationship soured from there.


Simmons was traded a year later for Harden, who was expected to serve as the missing piece that could get Embiid a championship. Or least into the conference final.


Asked after the Game 7 loss on Boston to describe his relationship with Rivers and if he’d like his coach to return for a fourth season, Harden said “our relationship is OK” and didn’t answer the second part of the question.


Now, it doesn’t matter.


But one other intriguing potential candidate to keep an eye on is former Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni. D’Antoni coached Harden for four seasons in Houston and they both thrived there working under current 76ers president Morey. Morey has been a staunch Harden defender and worked hard to bring him to the 76ers. With Rivers gone, another reunion could be on the horizon.

Popular posts from this blog

Barbie Crosses Another Major Domestic Box Office Milestone

Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, is set to cross a major box office milestone domestically in its fourth weekend in theaters. Barbie continues to smash through box office milestones, with the Warner Bros. film on track to cross $500 million domestically today. According to Deadline, Barbie is expected to top the box office again in its fourth weekend with $31.8 million. The Greta Gerwig-directed feature film has so far grossed $492.6 million domestically, meaning that Friday's box office haul should push it over the $500 million milestone. Globally, Barbie has cracked the $1 billion worldwide box office mark. So far, the only other 2023 movie to have achieved that milestone is Universal's The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which is currently the highest-grossing movie of the year with $1.356 billion. Barbie has seen great commercial success since its release in theaters on July 21. The film opened domestically with $162 million -- the largest debut ever for a film dir...
Read more

Sofía Vergara Is the Cocaine Godmother in First Griselda Photos

Netflix shares a sneak peek of the miniseries Griselda, created by the team behind Narcos & starring Sofía Vergara as Miami drug lord Griselda Blanco. Netflix gives viewers their first look at the upcoming miniseries Griselda, produced by and starring Sofía Vergara. First shared by Entertainment Weekly, the preview images show Vergara in the title role as Griselda Blanco, a Colombian immigrant who became involved in America's burgeoning cocaine business in the 1970s and a prominent figure in the Miami drug wars of '80's. The series was created by Eric Newman and Ingrid Escajeda alongside Doug Miro and Carlo Bernand, who previously created the similarly-themed Narcos for the streamer. Another Narcos alum, Andrés Baiz, will direct the series, though he specified that Griselda will have a different feel to the team's previous collaboration. "The stylistic landmarks of Narcos are not in Griselda," Baiz explained. "Griselda has its own identity ... its own...
Read more

Loki EP Insists Jonathan Majors' Victor Timely Still Plays a 'Big Part' in Season 2

Loki Season 2 executive producer Kevin Wright confirms that the production hasn't downsized Jonathan Majors' role despite his ongoing legal issues. Jonathan Majors' Victor Timely is still set to play a major role in Loki Season 2, according to executive producer Kevin Wright. Wright indicated that Majors' real-life legal issues haven't resulted in Marvel Studios retooling Loki's second season to minimize his character's importance during an interview with Entertainment Weekly. "Victor Timely is somebody that we are very, very excited about," he said. "When you look at Kang, he has a very funny comic backstory. He has all these iterations. Timely was one that we've always wanted to do in Loki. And I think we're really excited about how that integrates into the season. It's a big part of the show." Wright's comments track with a recent report that purported to reveal how much screentime Majors will have in the upcoming Marve...
Read more