Just in: The head coach of the philadelphia 76ers received sad news regarding his top player
In his fourteen years in the NBA, James Harden has mastered the art of identifying an opening and executing his best shot. He would be determined to do it late because he couldn’t do it early on Sunday.
Harden had been a bag of basketball slop all day in the TD Garden, allowing the Sixers to lose their season-ending 112-88 to the Celtics despite taking 11 shots, making three of them, committing five turnovers, and lagging at both ends. Soon after, he would take a big shot and aim it at Doc Rivers to make sure the attention wasn’t on him. He was questioned about his coach’s relationship and asked if he wanted him to come back in 2023–2024. His reply, which went viral right away, was, “Our relationship is OK.”
And two days later, Rivers would be held accountable for failing to provide the kind of play that the Sixers were already paying Joel Embiid and James Harden to do. At that point, Harden’s longtime Houstonian associate Daryl Morey consented to “part ways” with a coach deserving of the Hall of Fame. Who declared Rivers a coach worthy of the Hall of Fame? The main contributor to the Sixers, in his own right.
According to Morey, “Doc is one of the most successful coaches in NBA history.” “A potential Hall of Famer”
Throughout his coaching career, Rivers has been successful. This season, he won 54 games in the regular season, was named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month in April, repeatedly stopped Jacque Vaughn in a first-round bum rush of the Nets, and then assisted the Sixers in creating a moment that will go down in NBA history as true greatness.
Harden’s time had come.
Embiid’s time had come.
They aren’t NBA champions, though. Together, they have played in 23 NBA seasons, but all they have ever achieved is cheesy trophies and corny nicknames. Put the “L” symbol in this place.
But by Sunday, they would have had a chance to amend that story and every chance to show that they were more than just a team of inconsistent postseason performers. This explains why Harden signed a $69 million contract with the Sixers and why Embiid has a $211 million contract. That was supposed to be the moment, that game, that point in each of their careers when they would provide historic statistical displays and silence the Garden. Josh Harris deserved at least three hundred thousand dollars for his nearly three hundred thousand?
Rather, the pair of affluent men would collectively shoot 8-for-29. To a minus-28, Embiid would be playing. Harden would compete at minus thirty. And for that, as though it was his fault, Rivers would have to go looking for gigs in broadcasting. Rivers and Harden were different in that the coach exhibited class when he was asked to address his point guard and center’s subpar shooting.
Rivers answered, “Give Boston credit.” “They gave it their all in their play. Overall, they performed a fantastic “D.” I believed we had chances. I believed that we had the ball in all the proper spots, not just those two. Because other guys had really good shots when we swung it. We were at a loss for what more we could have done.
Capital O, capital G: Forget the Other Guys. It was a seventh game. Superstars need to deliver at that point. For easy comparison, Jayson Tatum scored 51 points by doing exactly that, and Jaylen Brown scored 25 points, which is one more than Harden and Embiid combined.
The NBA has always been a star-for-the-moment enterprise. This is the reason ticket buyers splurge. TV ratings are high because of this. Michael Jordan became Michael Jordan for that reason. Kareem was Kareem for that reason. That’s the reason Harden had to settle for Rivers’ gut-punching blow, while Tatum and Brown were allowed to savor the moment on Sunday.
The horrible reality of the NBA is that players like Harden and Embiid are getting enormous salaries because ownership has their back. And those same owners get afraid to tell the truth once that balance shifts, when the players become too expensive to lose. In actuality, Embiid and Harden cost the Sixers $290,000,000 in the one game that really counted. With his current skill set, Embiid is the greatest player in franchise history and still has a chance to win a championship. But someone else had to shoulder the blame after Harden disclosed that he was thinking of going back to Houston, a move that would have left the Sixers hurting from the salary cap.
The Sixers will try to convey a subdued message that Rivers has three years, not just one game, to have a meaningful postseason run. Nevertheless, the coach would not have been let go if the Sixers had prevailed on Sunday. Thus, there was only one game—exactly one. And it was a single moment when two superstars gave performances fit for legends. They were in that situation because of Rivers. They were paid by Harris for the work. The two also didn’t seem to be in competition.
