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PHILADELPHIA -- Doc Rivers' time as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers had a lot of highs. The Sixers won a lot of games during his time in the City of Brotherly Love and Joel Embiid earned an MVP award under his guidance in 2023. Tyrese Maxey began what has become an All-Star career under Rivers.
However, the Sixers were unable to get over the hump as they fell in Round 2 in all three playoff runs with Rivers. That led to his firing and he ultimately ended up with the Milwaukee Bucks midway through the 2023-24 season.
As Rivers made another return to Philadelphia on Tuesday, he gave major respect to Philadelphia's star duo starting with Embiid.
"I was telling a very, very, very—Hall of Fame player that I coached, Joel is the most talented player that I’ve ever coached," Rivers said before his Bucks fell to the Sixers. "He was like ‘What?’ I was like ‘He is!’ The things that you guys see and the things that you guys actually don’t see in practice sometimes that he can do, it’s incredible. It really is."
With that being said, Rivers--much like Brett Brown before him and Nick Nurse currently--was not able to have a fully healthy Embiid in the playoffs. He acknowledged that if the big fella can get to the postseason healthy, then the Sixes are going to have a shot.
"Unfortunately for me, I never had him healthy once in the playoffs," he added. "He wasn’t healthy last year. He wasn’t healthy the year before. That’s five years straight, I think? If he ever gets to the playoffs healthy—and they’ve added some pieces here—they’re gonna be a dangerous team, but it all comes down to that. And nothing’s changed, you know?"
As far as Maxey is concerned, he has been named an All-Star starter for the first time in his career. Rivers stated that he and Maxey maintain a good relationship despite being let go and both moving on in their respective careers.
"When you’re a head coach, you take more pride in the relationships," he said. "We’ve remained extremely close. Obviously, him and my son are almost best friends. When guys like that—Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander), we remain very close. I had him for one year, too, you know? It’s really cool. Tyrese more, in some ways, just because of his size and watching his growth, you know? Shai’s a big kid. You kinda knew it. You saw it. Tyrese just keeps getting better. No one's outworking him. So, it’s really cool to watch how quickly he’s done it. Just really proud of him."
Maxey was Rivers' first draft pick in Philadelphia in 2020. Obviously, that was a tough time for everybody when considering it was during the COVID-19 pandemic, but he and assistant coach Sam Cassell had fallen in love with Maxey's ability as they watched film preparing for that draft.
"On film, just his quickness," Rivers recalled. "It’s funny, none of us thought he could be a point guard. It’s so funny, the first question I asked him—and (Immanuel) Quickley—was who was the point guard? And they both said the other guy. So, I got a kick out of that. I was like ‘Oh, these guys wanna shoot the ball’ and that’s been proven out."
With that being said, Maxey has improved in many ways as a point guard and Rivers has acknoeledged that.
"Where he’s really improved at is his passing," he finished. "Like, you can see him make plays, get into the paint, he doesn’t get too deep. I remember when he would get too deep and leave his feet, and at his size, that’s a deflected pass."
Both Embiid and Maxey are better due to Rivers' coaching. The star duo will look to help the Sixers climb up the standings now in the Eastern Conference.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Doc Rivers gives major respect to Sixers' Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey
Continue reading...
However, the Sixers were unable to get over the hump as they fell in Round 2 in all three playoff runs with Rivers. That led to his firing and he ultimately ended up with the Milwaukee Bucks midway through the 2023-24 season.
As Rivers made another return to Philadelphia on Tuesday, he gave major respect to Philadelphia's star duo starting with Embiid.
"I was telling a very, very, very—Hall of Fame player that I coached, Joel is the most talented player that I’ve ever coached," Rivers said before his Bucks fell to the Sixers. "He was like ‘What?’ I was like ‘He is!’ The things that you guys see and the things that you guys actually don’t see in practice sometimes that he can do, it’s incredible. It really is."
With that being said, Rivers--much like Brett Brown before him and Nick Nurse currently--was not able to have a fully healthy Embiid in the playoffs. He acknowledged that if the big fella can get to the postseason healthy, then the Sixes are going to have a shot.
"Unfortunately for me, I never had him healthy once in the playoffs," he added. "He wasn’t healthy last year. He wasn’t healthy the year before. That’s five years straight, I think? If he ever gets to the playoffs healthy—and they’ve added some pieces here—they’re gonna be a dangerous team, but it all comes down to that. And nothing’s changed, you know?"
As far as Maxey is concerned, he has been named an All-Star starter for the first time in his career. Rivers stated that he and Maxey maintain a good relationship despite being let go and both moving on in their respective careers.
"When you’re a head coach, you take more pride in the relationships," he said. "We’ve remained extremely close. Obviously, him and my son are almost best friends. When guys like that—Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander), we remain very close. I had him for one year, too, you know? It’s really cool. Tyrese more, in some ways, just because of his size and watching his growth, you know? Shai’s a big kid. You kinda knew it. You saw it. Tyrese just keeps getting better. No one's outworking him. So, it’s really cool to watch how quickly he’s done it. Just really proud of him."
Maxey was Rivers' first draft pick in Philadelphia in 2020. Obviously, that was a tough time for everybody when considering it was during the COVID-19 pandemic, but he and assistant coach Sam Cassell had fallen in love with Maxey's ability as they watched film preparing for that draft.
"On film, just his quickness," Rivers recalled. "It’s funny, none of us thought he could be a point guard. It’s so funny, the first question I asked him—and (Immanuel) Quickley—was who was the point guard? And they both said the other guy. So, I got a kick out of that. I was like ‘Oh, these guys wanna shoot the ball’ and that’s been proven out."
With that being said, Maxey has improved in many ways as a point guard and Rivers has acknoeledged that.
"Where he’s really improved at is his passing," he finished. "Like, you can see him make plays, get into the paint, he doesn’t get too deep. I remember when he would get too deep and leave his feet, and at his size, that’s a deflected pass."
Both Embiid and Maxey are better due to Rivers' coaching. The star duo will look to help the Sixers climb up the standings now in the Eastern Conference.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Doc Rivers gives major respect to Sixers' Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey
Continue reading...
