Just days after being fired by the Los Angeles Clippers, veteran head coach Doc Rivers has agreed to terms with the Philadelphia 76ers. The team had been searching for a replacement for recently fired head coach Brett Brown and pounced on the opportunity to get a high-profile coach like Rivers.
Doc Rivers has been a head coach in the NBA since 1999. Over that span, he’s coached for three different teams (Orlando, Boston, and the Los Angeles Clippers) while winning one championship with the Celtics in 2007. He’s been rated as one of the top coaches in the league and has a career coaching record of 943-681 (.581).
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This could not be a better hiring for the Sixers. For years, many fans wanted to see Brett Brown fired and when the team did in August, the coaching market appeared to be thin. The team interviewed former Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue earlier this week and also showed interest in Mike D’Antoni. Both have coaching experience but had many flaws.
With Rivers, this could significantly change the path the Sixers take. It gives them hope now that they can keep Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons together and possibly make a title run. If they can re-shape the roster better around them with more shooters and keep Tobias Harris, they are poised to compete in 2021. There will be a lot of work with handling Al Horford as he is under contract for three more years but, we’ll have to wait and see how it unfolds.
Joel Embiid took to Twitter shortly after to celebrate the hiring: