The Philadelphia 76ers’ 2022–2023 NBA season ended in a sad way a few weeks ago.
The team blew a 3-2 lead in the series against the Boston Celtics and didn’t even make it to the Eastern Conference Finals.
After that setback, the team decided it was time to get rid of Doc Rivers as head coach.
On the Bill Simmons show today, Rivers talked about his time with the 76ers and said that coaching James Harden was hard.
“It was not easy. More because we were fighting against two things, not just each other. James was so good at playing one way, but I think you have to play differently to win because you have to give up the ball, move it, and come back to it a lot.
I would have loved to have James when he was younger and could do things more easily. Because giving up the ball and getting it back is hard, tiring, and physical. It would have been fun to do more of these things with him when he was younger.”
He also said that Harden can’t affect playoff games as much as Steph Curry can because of how he plays. Rivers says that the way Harden plays makes it easier for teams to hit him in the playoffs when they are planning for him every night.
“Nothing seems to be missing, Bill. James is a great player because he is one of the best individuals who have ever played the game. [He plays well with the ball, dribbles it, and charges]. But you can also hit him because you know where he is and where the ball is. It’s easier to plan against James than someone like Steph Curry in the playoffs, when teams do things like double-team him, take the ball away from him, and make it harder for him to play.
There had been rumours that the Philadelphia 76ers fired Doc Rivers because they wanted to keep James Harden. These words from Rivers could explain why Harden would have wanted someone else to be the head coach.
It can be hard for both a player and a coach to get over these kinds of differences.
Given his experience as a head coach, Rivers shouldn’t have much trouble getting another job, and maybe the next team will have a star who fits better with how Rivers plays the game.
Doc Rivers says that one NBA star was hard to coach. This post first appeared on BroBible.
