The star of the Philadelphia 76ers expressed pure happiness after the team hired Doc Rivers as their new head coach.
This past Monday, the Los Angeles Clippers announced the they and head coach Doc Rivers agreed to mutually part ways. Rivers immediately became the top commodity on the NBA’s head coaching market, and the Philadelphia 76ers swooped in, met with him on Wednesday, and eventually agreed to terms on a five-year contract on Thursday.
Nearly an hour after the news dropped, 76ers star center Joel Embiid shouted out his new head coach on Twitter, while mentioning that he’s looking forward to working with him.
Rivers hired to bring 76ers to the next level
This season, the 76ers were expected to take the next step and represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. Yet, the team failed to live up to expectations under head coach Brett Brown, resulting in the team getting swept out of the first round of the NBA Playoffs by the Boston Celtics, leading to his dismissal.
While Rivers still has the stink of the Clippers blowing a 3-1 series lead against the Denver Nuggets, he’s one of the winningest coaches in the league. In Rivers’ 21-year coaching career, he ranks 11th all-time in wins (943), won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in 2000 with the Orlando Magic, and coached the Boston Celtics to the NBA Championship in 2008.
Rivers will now be tasked of coaching Embiid and star guard Ben Simmons to their full potential. In fact, Rivers once called Simmons the next Magic Johnson and Embiid the next Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. That’s how highly Rivers thinks of the two cornerstones of Philadelphia’s franchise.
Embiid appears to be all-in on the Rivers hire. Now, the team will have to tackle the NBA Draft, free agency and the trading block to ensure the 76ers can beat the likes of the Celtics or Milwaukee Bucks next season.