Doc Rivers is staying on as head coach of the Philadephia 76ers despite a slew of unfounded rumors to the contrary. If it wasn’t clear before Sixers’ brass said it, then the Los Angeles Lakers’ decision to hire Darvin Ham put the final nail in that coffin.
The Sixers fell short of a championship in Year 2 under Rivers. Everyone knows what happened. It was a complicated situation, one involving a malcontent player and a blockbuster trade. The 60-year-old coach navigated it the best he could and eventually earned the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Sixers coach Doc Rivers threw Ben Simmons out of practice today and the suspension came shortly thereafter, sources tell ESPN.
All things considered, it was a good season — or at least that’s the stamp Rivers put on it during a recent interview with JAKIB Sports.
“You know, it was a good season. It was a tumultuous season is what it was,” Rivers told Dan Sileo. “But we knew that going in, it wasn’t surprising. We had the Ben Simmons’ situation which was difficult, it was difficult for the team, it was difficult for the coaches, everybody. So if you just look at that, and up until the point that we made a trade, I think you would look at our season and say, ‘Wow, their second-best player was out and yet at that point they were one game out of first place in the East.’ That’s doing something, you know.”
Rivers made sure to clarify that good doesn’t mean good enough while pointing out that only one team can be called great. That label will get slapped on either the Golden State Warriors or Boston Celtics after the NBA Finals.
“So, I look at it as a good season, but you know how I’m built. Great is only for the winner,” Rivers said. “Good is for everybody else and average is for teams less than that. So I put us as a good season.”
“Joel [Embiid] was phenomenal all year.”
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Tyrese Maxey Should Have Won Most Improved Player
Rivers was quick to describe all the good things that happened during the 2021-22 campaign. Joel Embiid had another MVP-caliber season. Tobias Harris bought in after struggling early. And the Sixers traded for a fun new toy in James Harden.
Who the 2022 NBA Most Improved Player finalists are:
– Darius Garland
– Ja Morant
– Dejounte Murray
Who the 2022 Most Improved Player finalists should be:
– Tyrese Maxey
– Jordan Poole
– Jalen Brunson
One more thing: Tyrese Maxey turned into one of the most exciting players in the NBA. Rivers thought he was robbed of the Most Improved Player award, which went to Ja Morant. Maxey only garnered 6 first-place votes to 38 for Morant.
“Joel was phenomenal all year and so he carried that,” Rivers said. “I thought Tyrese Maxey, I thought honestly he was the Most Improved Player. I don’t know how he didn’t win it, in my opinion. But what he did was phenomenal.
“I thought Tobias Harris, I thought early on he struggled but by midseason he kind of bought into the role that we needed him to play for the t of the season. I thought he was amazing. So, yea, it was a good season in that return because we had a lot of what I always call ‘clutter’, and then we make the trade.”
The Sixers went 16-8 after the Harden trade. They finished with a record of 51-31 before losing to Miami in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Another Vote of Confidence for James Harden
The Sixers plan to sign Harden to a lucrative contract extension this summer — up to $270 million by some estimates — but first he has to exercise his player option and opt in for the 2022-23 season. Harden said he plans to do that. Rivers doesn’t see why he wouldn’t.
“I believe we’ll bring James Harden back, and get that signed, at least I’m hoping we do,” Harden said, via JAKIB Sports. “I think James has a lot of basketball left in him.”
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‘We Knew’: Sixers Coach Doc Rivers Shares Strong Message