CAMDEN, N.J. — When the Philadelphia 76ers face the Milwaukee Bucks next, they will see former head coach Doc Rivers on the opposing sideline. After a chaotic situation unfolded that included the firing of rookie head coach Adrian Griffin, Rivers is the new head coach of one of the Sixers' biggest in-conference threats.

The Bucks and 76ers began their season with a matchup in Milwaukee before Philly had even agreed to terms on the James Harden trade. Milwaukee took the win and has since posted the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. But massive issues on defense and internal strife led the Bucks to fire Griffin and replace him with Rivers, who was informally advising him.

Maxey spent the first three seasons of his NBA career under Rivers. He congratulated him on his new gig after the 76ers' practice on Wednesday.

“Congrats. Congrats, Doc,” Maxey said. “He was here for three years, so, at the beginning of my career. I appreciate him getting my career jump-started and teaching me a lot of different things and being hard on me. It's really good. I appreciate him for that. So, I mean, kudos to them. That's Milwaukee. That's them. Can't worry about them too much. Gotta worry about what's going on here. But congrats to Doc. I'm glad you back coaching, doing what he loves.”

Maxey was tapped as a starter by Rivers in his second season in the wake of Ben Simmons' refusal to play. He became the third option behind Embiid and James Harden after the 2022 trade deadline blockbuster and improved each season.

But Rivers was also moved Maxey to the bench in the middle of last season after recovering from a foot injury. Rivers insisted that Maxey suggested the move but Maxey explained in a recent appearance on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast that, although he didn’t complain about the new role, it wasn’t something that worked for him. His side of the story did not indicate that it was something he offered to do.

With his experiences with Rivers in the past, Maxey is simply wishing his former coach well. Asked if seeing Rivers go to one of the 76ers' main conference rivals was humorous, Maxey pointed to how Nick Nurse is the team's coach now after years leading a different rival, the Toronto Raptors. In that particular aspect, Maxey doesn’t seem to be all that intrigued. “It's just a part of the business,” he said.

The 76ers will face the Bucks in Philly on Sunday, February 25 and then again in Milwaukee on Thursday, March 14.