After losing Game 7 and being eliminated from the Playoffs, Philadelphia has now a vacancy for head coach
And once again, the NBA is seeing a head coach being fired following a playoff elimination. Now it is time for this to happen in Philly. The 76ers are firing HC Doc Rivers after three seasons with the team. The Sixers had 50+ wins in all three.
However, not making it to the Conference Finals played a huge role in this decision. It was also the third season under Rivers’ coaching era that the 76ers were knocked out in the Conference Semifinals. The franchise doesn’t play in the Eastern Conference Finals since 2001, and their last NBA title was only in 1983.
Philadelphia thanked their now-former coach in a post on their social media. They also shared a statement informing that they were parting ways. Rivers was the 25th head coach in the franchise’s history, training the team from Oct. 2, 2020, to May 16, 2023. In this period he had a 154-82 (65.3%) regular-season record.
In the 2022-23 season, the 76ers finished the regular season with the #3 seed in the East, having the third-best record across the whole league. After sweeping the Brooklyn Nets in the 1st-Round, after a 4-0 in the series, they ended up being knocked out in the Conference Semifinals, falling to the Boston Celtics in Game 7. The Celtics had the #2 seed in the East and the second-best record in the NBA this season.
76ers Statement
“Doc is one of the most successful coaches in NBA history, a future Hall of Famer, and someone I respect immensely. We’re grateful for all he did in his three seasons here and thank him for the important impact he made on our franchise. After having the chance to reflect upon our season, we decided that certain changes are necessary to further our goals of competing for a championship,” said Daryl Morey, President of Basketball Operations.
