The Philadelphia 76ers have fired head coach Doc Rivers.
The team's president of basketball operations Daryl Morey released this statement on Tuesday:
“Doc is one of the most successful coaches in NBA history, a future Hall of Famer, and someone I respect immensely. We’re grateful for all he did in his three seasons here and thank him for the important impact he made on our franchise. After having the chance to reflect upon our season, we decided that certain changes are necessary to further our goals of competing for a championship.”
Rivers, 61, spent three seasons with the Sixers winning 49, 51, and 54 games, respectively, in his three seasons as head coach. However, Rivers failed to get the Sixers past the second-round of the playoffs, blowing a 3-2 semifinals series lead against the Boston Celtics.
After winning the NBA Championship in 2007-08 as the head coach of the Boston Celtics, Rivers has struggled as head coach of the Clippers and Sixers blowing a 3-1 series lead three times and going 6-10 in Game sevens. Rivers is now 17-33 in games where his team had a chance to clinch a playoff series.
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Sixers star Joel Embiid did have his best regular season in 2022-23 under Rivers, winning the league's most valuable player award. However, when it mattered most, Embiid, James Harden and the Sixers came up small.
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Embiid's scoring dropped from 33.1 points per game in the regular season to 23.7 points per game in the postseason, the largest drop off for an MVP in NBA history.
Possible replacements for Rivers are expected to include Mike Budenholzer, Sam Cassell, Mike D’Antoni, Nick Nurse, Frank Vogel and Monty Williams, according to Woj.
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