Getty Joel Embiid #21.
This isn’t the start that the Philadelphia 76ers hoped for. Yes, game one was against the reigning Eastern Conference champions Boston Celtics. Sure, game two featured NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. And yeah, the San Antonio Spurs have . . . uh . . . Gregg Popovich?
Philadelphia was thoroughly outclassed by the Spurs on Saturday night. It heightened the already mounting criticism that head coach Doc Rivers faces. The defense looks dreadful, Joel Embiid looks slow, and the bench looks, well, we don’t know.
One positive from the game? Embiid got to link up with his former coach Brett Brown, who is on staff with the Spurs. The two were spotted getting chummy after the Sixers’ loss Saturday.
Joel Embiid and Brett Brown catch up after Spurs beat Sixers
What were the two talking about? Best cheesesteak spots in the Rio Grande Valley? Regardless, it shouldn’t come as any surprise, especially after multiple Sixers expressed excitement about seeing Brown before the game.
Embiid, Korkmaz Talk Brett Brown’s Legacy in Philadelphia
Ahead of the Sixers-Spurs match, Embiid opened up on his true feelings towards the former skipper, per Yong Kim of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“’He meant a lot,’ Embiid said. ‘Obviously, he started the whole thing and things didn’t work out the way they should have. But he did a great job and he’s one of the reasons why we’re in this position.'”
Embiid wasn’t alone. Furkan Korkmaz, the Turkish sharpshooter on Philadelphia’s bench, called Brown “a really good friend of mine.”
The issue in Philadelphia was never Brown’s relationship with his players. Brown was well-liked by the team, but ultimately maybe too well-liked. For instance, he was criticized for not being more demanding with Ben Simmons’ shooting woes. But he also navigated Philadelphia through the lean years of The Process, even if Embiid became the lone mainstay.
Since the Sixers brought in Doc Rivers, though, things haven’t gone any better. Under Brown, the Sixers never advanced past the second round of the playoffs. And through Rivers’ first two seasons, he’s never managed to beat the mark.
Despite that, one Eastern Conference executive doesn’t think Rivers’ job is on the hotseat. Not yet, anyways.
Rivers’ Slow Start Could Jeapordize His Job With Sixers
A few weeks back, Heavy Sports’ insider Sean Deveney spoke with an Eastern Conference executive on the prospect of Doc Rivers losing his job. At the time, the Sixers hadn’t yet played a game, the vibes were golden, and Embiid’s plantar fasciitis injury was unknown.
Because of that, the exec wasn’t too bullish on Rivers’ job being in jeapordy.
“It would have to be a very slow start for them to make a move in the middle of the season, and they’d have to get the feedback from the players, from Harden and Embiid, PJ Tucker, guys who Daryl trusts. Sam Cassell is on the bench there so they could have a ready-made replacement. They have a really good staff there, Doc is one of the best at putting together a staff. Hard to see them making a move there, though.”
Flash forward three games into the season, and the Sixers are very much off to that “slow start” the exec warned about. Does it mean Rivers’ job is on the line?
Absolutely.