CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers are in the middle of a title race in the Eastern Conference. They are fighting for Eastern Conference supremacy with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics.
The Bucks made a very interesting move on Tuesday when they fired first-year coach Adrian Griffin after 43 games on the job. Milwaukee was 30-13, but, obviously, didn’t feel comfortable with Griffin leading the title charge.
To replace Griffin, the Bucks hired future Hall of Famer Doc Rivers, the former Sixers coach. After spending three seasons in Philadelphia, Rivers was let go in the summer and landed a job as a commentator for ESPN. Now he is the new head man of the Bucks.
“Congrats,” said Tyrese Maxey of the hire for Rivers. “Congrats, Doc. He was here for three years, so for the beginning of my career. I appreciate him for getting my career jump-started and teaching me a lot of different things and being hard on me. It’s really good. I appreciate him for that. So I mean, kudos to them.”
Rivers produced a 154-82 record across three seasons with the Sixers and led them to the No. 1 seed for the 2021 playoffs. It was their first time as a No. 1 seed since the 2000-01 season. Rivers did some great things in Philadelphia regardless of the Eastern Conference semifinal exits.
“That’s Milwaukee,” Maxey added. “That’s them. I mean, I can’t worry about them too much. I gotta worry about what’s going on here, but congrats to Doc. I’m glad he’s back coaching and doing what he loves.”
One might find it humorous that a fellow Eastern Conference contender hired Rivers to be their coach. However, Maxey isn’t worried. He wants to help the Sixers win.
“Humorous?” Maxey retorted. “No, I mean our coach is Nick Nurse now. We played against him in the playoffs two years ago. So it’s just a part of the business. You know what I mean, like I said, congrats to Doc. Kudos to him. Congrats to Milwaukee and that’s them. We’re focused on the Sixers right now.”
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