Getty Joel Embiid and Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers
Daryl Morey spoke to the media for the first time since the Philadelphia 76ers fired Doc Rivers as their head coach on May 16. While talking with reporters the following day, Morey, president of basketball operations, revealed how Joel Embiid felt about Rivers’ firing.
“They had a strong relationship,” Morey said before pivoting to follow another train of thought about an unspecified trade the Sixers had made. “I have to make tough calls all the time with trades. Joel was disappointed. … Some of it was [that] he didn’t know the player we were getting in the trade, who ended up helping us, but he was disappointed in the players that went out. I think it’s natural to be very close with the people in the locker room.”
Morey didn’t name names, but it’s possible he was referring to deal they made at the trade deadline that sent Matisse Thybulle, who had been on the team since 2019, to the Portland Trail Blazers for Jalen McDaniels. Thybulle had lost his spot in Sixers’ rotation before being traded, and McDaniels would also lose his rotation spot in the playoffs, not entering Games 4, 5 and 7 against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals and playing only 36 seconds in Game 6.
Now, Morey said, he has to convince Embiid, who is under contract with the Sixers for at least three more years, to buy into Rivers’ replacement.
“He was very close with Coach Rivers, and yeah, he was shocked about the change,” Morey said. “It’s my job to help convince him that the new coach is someone that he’ll have a great relationship with as well.”
Rasheed Wallace Criticizes Doc Rivers
Former NBA star Rasheed Wallace, who played for Rivers on the Boston Celtics in 2009-10, criticized his former coach for not doing enough in his role.
“You gotta get somebody in there that the players respect,” Wallace said on May 16 episode of “That’s What Sheed Said.” “He doesn’t make adjustments. That’s just from being in the locker room with him for that one season. That seems to always be his biggest knock. If his team is up, you don’t have to coach s*** then. When you are in the trenches, and you are going against another team and another good coach, you’ve gotta be more than a locker room manager.”
Wallace said that Rivers wanted his players, rather than himself, to make adjustments.
“He depends more on the players to make those adjustments,” Wallace said. “But Coach, you have to come in there and make adjustments as well, especially when what you’re trying hasn’t worked.”
James Harden & Doc Rivers Was ‘Never Great’
Following Rivers’ firing, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne revealed on “The Anthony Gargano Show” the extent of Harden’s and Rivers’ issues with one another, particularly off the court.
“The Harden-Doc Rivers thing was never great,” Shelburne said. “There was a lot behind it. There was this team meeting I had heard about where Doc tried to say something about (Harden) going out on the road and how does that look, and how does that look to your teammates. If you’re going to do that, you’ve really got to show up in the game. There was a lot of trying to hold James accountable in certain ways.”