Sadly, the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers has been sacked due to the mis…
PHILADELPHIA: Following their third consecutive loss in the second round of the playoffs, the Philadelphia 76ers fired coach Doc Rivers on Tuesday, according to a person with direct knowledge of the decision who spoke to The Associated Press.
Behind NBA MVP Joel Embiid, Rivers guided the 76ers to 50 wins for the second straight season, but he was once again unable to get them to the Eastern Conference Finals.
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The 76ers led the Boston team in the semifinals of the NBA series 3-2 before losing Game 6 at home and losing badly in Game 7 away.
Rivers lost the seventh game 6-10. Five more than any other NBA coach; the 10 losses are all losses.
As the top seed in the second round in 2021, Rivers and the 76ers also fell to Atlanta in a crushing Game 7 at home. After Sunday’s loss, Embiid supported Rivers’ comeback, but James Harden was unsure if he would want Rivers back.
Rivers was 236-154 in his three years with the Sixers and had two years remaining on his contract. As the Boston Celtics’ coach, he was the team’s 2008 NBA champion.
After Boston’s 112-88 thrashing, when asked if he thought he would return the following year, Rivers replied, “Yes.” It looks like I have two years left. I understand that no one is safe in our business.
The 76ers will undoubtedly have their choice of the best players in the league after he becomes the latest well-known coach to be fired during the postseason. After winning titles since 2019, Mike Budenholzer of Milwaukee and Nick Nurse of Toronto were fired. Monty Williams, a former Sixers assistant coach who led Phoenix to the 2021 NBA Finals, is also a candidate.
Before the 2020–21 season, Rivers succeeded Brett Brown, who was let go following the 76ers’ crushing defeat in the opening round of the playoffs.
About two weeks prior, after the Los Angeles Clippers blew a 3-1 series lead and fell to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals, Rivers had been fired.
He thought he would be coaching a team that was almost certain to win a championship. Rather, he was benched for one of the worst games in team history—a franchise-shifting defeat to Atlanta in Game 7—which followed Ben Simmons’s inability to dunk an uncontested shot, which ultimately led to a defeat and the All-Star guard’s dismissal from Philadelphia.
After Rivers and Embiid refused to publicly support Simmons after the loss, the star never played for the 76ers again, and the relationship deteriorated from there.
After Harden acquired Simmons a year later, it was anticipated that The Beard would provide Embiid with the final component needed to win a championship. Until the conference final, at least.
After the Boston Celtics lost Game 7, Harden was asked to explain his relationship with Rivers and whether he would like to see his coach return for a fourth season. He responded, “Our relationship is OK,” but he did not address the second part of the question.
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article content At this point, it is irrelevant.
However, Mike D’Antoni, a former Rockets coach, is another intriguing candidate to watch. For four seasons, D’Antoni mentored Harden in Houston, where they both flourished under the direction of current 76ers president Daryl Morey. Morey put a lot of effort into bringing Harden to the 76ers and has been a devoted Harden defender. With Rivers no longer around, there may be a future reunion.
