When Doc Rivers parted ways with the Los Angeles Clippers on September 28, it was a shock to almost everybody. Rivers had just finished up his seventh season with the team and they made another playoff run into the semifinals.
Rivers was unemployed for all of three days before being hired as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers on October 1. It was a quick courtship that as general manager Elton Brand and the rest of the front office moved swiftly to bring him in here.
“It’s been crazy,” explained Rivers. “Within five hours of that news getting out, my agent called a d said that there were three teams that wanted to talk and I said ‘I need a day to gather myself’. We narrowed it down to a couple of teams and the first team I wanted to talk to was Philadelphia. Then truth be told, mainly because of what they have on the floor with all the players that they have.”
Their call actually brought Rivers back into coaching. He was ready to take a break after 21 seasons as a head coach in the NBA with three different teams.
“I love coaching. I absolutely love it, but I was not going to just coach anybody, I can tell you that,” Rivers explained. “I was ready to take a break. It just depended on the team that was available and if I thought that team, in my opinion, was ready to win that excited me. When Elton called, it was easy to get on the plane and take the look.”
The Sixers are definitely a team that fits the bill of “ready to win” right now. They are led by a young star duo of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid and there are also good pieces around them in Shake Milton, Tobias Harris, Josh Richardson, and Al Horford. The possibilities are endless with this team’s potential.
“When you look at these young players and their potential, the fact that they’ve had so much success in some ways at the ages that they are already and where I really think they can go, for me, it was a job you just couldn’t turn down,” Rivers added with a smile. “That’s why I’m here. I’m really excited about it.”
On top of the opportunity to coach some real talent in Philadelphia, Rivers is excited to work with Brand in helping the team move forward. Brand had said in the past that the Sixers agreed that the collaborative days were over, but he may make an exception here for Rivers who has a championship on his resume with the Boston Celtics in 2008.
“We’re in it together,” Rivers stated. “That’s one of the things that was so exciting about this job, to have that opportunity with Elton. I think we have a chance to build something great here. I think it actually starts off the court. We have to get that part right. That’s exciting. I think Elton and I have a chance to form an amazing partnership together and we’ll grow from there.”
Now that Rivers is here, it is now time for him to get to work and get the team back on track. [lawrence-related id=38139,38136,38124]