Well, that didn’t take long. Three days, to be exact.
Doc Rivers, who parted ways with the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, was hired by the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday. Rivers signed a five-year deal with the Sixers, this after going 356-208 (.631) in seven seasons in L.A.
Pompey, however, did not think Rivers would want to come to Philadelphia. He thought Rivers would want to take a year off and not deal with the headache of coaching a team that has underperformed the last few seasons.
“You have Ben Simmons, you have Joel Embiid, but this was a team that really underachieved,” Pompey said. “It’s a good team, and he’s a good coach, but they underachieved. It’s going to be a lot of work put in. I just thought maybe Doc would try to sit back, relax and see what comes open next year.”
The Sixers reached the conference semifinals in 2018 and 2019 but lost in the first round this season. They have not reached the conference finals – or the NBA Finals – since Allen Iverson’s MVP season in 2001.