After the Los Angeles Clippers fired Doc Rivers in 2020, Rivers didn’t take long to find his next gig with the Philadelphia 76ers. However, according to former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, Rivers had lobbied for the Sixers to hire his former assistant, Tyronn Lue, but then pushed for the Sixers to hire him shortly after his own firing.
“Doc [Rivers] sent Tyronn Lue to Philly. Lobbied for him!… Doc found out he was getting fired… He called Philly and said ‘I want the job now.’”
Gilbert Arenas says Doc Rivers went behind Ty Lue’s back to coach the Sixers 😳
(via @GilsArenaShow)
“This is a true story. Doc sent Tyronn Lue to Philly. Lobbied for him! ‘This is your guy. This is a great coach. He’s going to be good for you guys,'” Arenas said. “Game 7 (of the 2020 Western Conference Semifinals), Doc found out he was getting fired…He knew he was getting fired, called Philly, and said, ‘I want the job now.’”
Rivers was hired by the Sixers around the exact time in which Lue was hired by the Clippers to be Rivers’ replacement. Lue was an assistant under Rivers during the latter’s time with the Boston Celtics and Clippers from 2011 to 2014.
Arenas was a three-time all-star with the Washington Wizards from 2005 to 2007.
Former James Harden Coach Shouts Out Nick Nurse
With the Sixers still dealing with the James Harden situation, Harden’s former head coach Kevin McHale expressed his sympathy for new Sixers coach Nick Nurse while talking with Heavy Sports’ Steve Bulpett for what he’s already had to put up with since being hired as Rivers’ replacement.
“I feel really bad for Nick Nurse, too. You’ve got a new coach coming in, and Nick’s like, ‘Oh, boy. This ought to be interesting.’ It just disrupts the entire flow of the team, and it’s totally unnecessary. You can do a lot of stuff behind the scenes. You don’t need to come out and just throw that out there. James started a forest fire with that.”
McHale coached Harden during their time together from 2012 to 2015 with the Houston Rockets before he was fired. Nurse is currently dealing with a situation that remains ambiguous until it’s resolved. Harden is still technically a Sixer, but he has shown every indication that he wants out, which will not change, as evidenced by him calling Daryl Morey a liar and vowing never to play for him again.
Bill Simmons Says Ime Udoka Did Not Want James Harden
Dating back to Christmas Day 2022, Harden been linked to the Rockets as a possible free agent destination this offseason, as first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Bill Simmons, the Rockets’ closed the door on a Harden reunion following the hiring of Ime Udoka as their head coach because he didn’t want him.
“(Ime) Udoka came in, he got the job at the end of April, and they were like, ‘What about James Harden?’ He said, ‘Yeah, we can think about it!’” Simmons explained on the August 20 edition of The Bill Simmons Podcast. “Then when he got the job, he said, ‘I don’t f****** want that guy and they threw their weight in front of it. That’s what happened.
“Harden thought he was going there. He thought he was getting a big contract. That’s why he took less money to help Philly win for a year because he knew he was going to leave. That’s my theory, and I think I’m right. Once that Houston thing got pulled out and Daryl says, ‘We’re going to trade you this summer,’ he looks around, and nobody f****** wants James Harden!”
Udoka was an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets during the 2020-21 season, which was around the time the Nets acquired Harden, so Udoka has experience dealing with him.
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Ex-NBA Star Gilbert Arenas Makes Bold Claim About Ex-Sixers Coach Doc Rivers