Doc Rivers is the one to fall on the sword.
The Philadelphia 76ers have fired Rivers after three seasons as head coach, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The 61-year-old has led the Sixers into the second round in all of his seasons but has never advanced into the Eastern Conference Finals.
Rivers owns a 154-82 (.659) record as head coach in Philadelphia. The longtime head coach joined the Sixers after seven seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Chicago native was named one of the 15 greatest coaches in NBA history in 2021-22 and has won one NBA championship (2007-2008 Celtics) in 24 seasons as a coach.
Rivers didn’t exactly go out with a bang as their disastrous Game 7 112-88 loss to the Boston Celtics featured a historically bad 10-point third quarter which tied an NBA-shot clock era record for the fewest points scored in a postseason quarter.
Now, James Harden and 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid’s squad are in the market for a new captain of the ship. The 76ers were 54-28 this season owning the East’s No. 3 seed and have experienced plenty of regular season success during Rivers’ tenure, however, they have not been able to get over the hump in the playoffs.
The search for a head coach in Philadelphia already includes a big list of names. Mike Budenholzer, Sam Cassell, Mike D’Antoni, Nick Nurse, Frank Vogel and Monty Williams are all in the running to take over, according to ESPN
Budenholzer was just canned by the Milwaukee Bucks after their first-round loss as the No. 1 seed to the No. 8 seed Miami Heat — who eventually advanced into the Conference Finals for the third time in the last four seasons. The Phoenix Suns also just moved on from Williams after falling in the second round to the Denver Nuggets this season.
The rest of the candidates also own head coaching experience with the exception of Cassell who has never received the chance to be at the helm.