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The Philadelphia 76ers fired Doc Rivers after three seasons of coaching Joel Embiid and the team. He was axed after Philly blew a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semi-finals to the Boston Celtics. Rivers was eventually replaced by former longtime Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse.
Rivers has settled back into a broadcasting role with ESPN. He calls NBA games together with Mike Breen and Doris Burke. The champion coach’s insights and experience made him an attractive choice for the network to analyze games.
Doc Rivers was a recent guest on the "KG Certified" podcast with hosts Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Rivers told his two former stars about how good Nikola Jokic is. His comments quickly earned reactions from basketball fans on Twitter/X:
“He's literally the reason we didn't win a chip”
It’s perhaps unfair to blame Doc Rivers for the Philadelphia 76ers' failures alone. But, he was also a key part of their inability to even reach the Eastern Conference finals. In his first season with the Sixers, Philly had the No. 1 seed in the East.
The 76ers were heavily favored in the second round of the playoffs against Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks. “Ice Trae” sent them home and broke the Embiid-Simmons era in Philadelphia. Last season, they were again eliminated in the semis by Rivers’ former team, the Boston Celtics.
Doc Rivers called Joel Embiid the best scorer but named Nikola Jokic as the best player
Rivers was then asked by Garnett and Pierce to give his thoughts about how the Western Conference playoffs could play out. The coach mentioned how tough the Phoenix Suns could be if they get healthy. He added that despite the contenders’ improvements, they would still have “to deal with that dude in Denver.”
Pierce asked him if Jokic is the best player in the NBA right now. Rivers responded:
“Yeah, because he just does everything better. Joel’s [Embiid] the best scorer. Joel is the only guy that can stop Joel from scoring. You can’t stop him. He can do everything but “The Joker” [Jokic], man, he just makes everybody better.”
Embiid won the MVP award last season after finishing second to Nikola Jokic for two straight years. “The Process” is also the back-to-back scoring champ and could be on his way to a third. Philly’s incredible start also has Embiid as the frontrunner in the MVP race.
Doc Rivers added that Denver often runs its plays by just giving Jokic the ball and allowing him to dictate the game. The Serbian’s ability to see plays before they happen and make others around him better is unsurpassed according to Rivers.
