The Philadelphia 76ers dropped a bomb on Tuesday morning, firing head coach Doc Rivers after just three seasons with the franchise — and the search for his replacement has already begun.
“The Sixers' search for a new coach is expected to include Mike Budenholzer, Sam Cassell, Mike D'Antoni, Nick Nurse, Frank Vogel and Monty Williams, sources tell ESPN,” Adrian Wojnarowski reported.
It's certainly a star-studded lineup of potential coaches, including three head coaches that were just let go in Budenholzer, Nurse and Williams.
Rivers was unable to get his team over the hump, suffering three straight Eastern Conference semifinal losses at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks in 2021, Miami Heat in 2022 and Boston Celtics on Sunday afternoon.
Not even a Joel Embiid MVP season could get Philadelphia to the final four, a feat the team has not accomplished since the turn of the century and an NBA Finals trip in 2001.
Rivers was excellent in the regular season, leading the Sixers to a 154-82 record (.653), including 54 victories in 2022-23, the franchise's most since that 2000-01 season, per Wojnarowski.
With the 61-year-old gone, the 76ers join the Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons with head coaching openings in 2023. It was the 16th straight winning season for the Chicago native as a head coach; he previously coached the LA Clippers, Celtics and Orlando Magic dating back to 1999.
Still, it was the 10th time Doc Rivers has lost in a Game 7, including five times in a row, per Woj, and that was probably what sealed his fate in Philadelphia.
He has a career coaching record of 1,097-763 in 24 NBA seasons, and a record of 111-103 over 19 playoff berths. He won Coach of the Year honors in his first season with Orlando and has finished top five in voting for the award five separate times in his career.
The team will now conduct a thorough search for their new bench boss as they try to reach the Eastern Conference Final for the first time in over two decades.
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