Gilbert Arenas warned Sixers not to hire Doc Rivers over Tyronn Lue
In two seasons as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, Doc Rivers has done a lot of good things on the sidelines for the team. He led them to the No. 1 seed in 2021, the franchise’s first since 2001, and he helped navigate murky waters in the 2021-22 season to win 51 games.
However, the Sixers have come up short in the playoffs. In 2021, they held a 26-point lead at home in Game 5 before blowing it to give the Atlanta Hawks a 3-2 lead, and then they lost Game 7 at home in the series.
Then Rivers made some comments about Ben Simmons when he was asked if Simmons can be a point guard on a championship team. Rivers answered with “I don’t know” and that set off a chain reaction as Simmons wanted out and that then led to him holding out and then he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden.
Former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas warned Sixers GM Elton Brand not to hire Rivers when it came down to him or Tyronn Lue as Arenas pointed out on his podcast, “No Chill with Gibert Arenas”:
He was a losing coach before you gave him rock stars and then he won a championship now his legacy is built on that championship. Y’all value a championship. What did he do? After he won a championship. What did he do after that? Nothing. What has he done since then? Nothing. He has the same amount of talent. At least eight/nine years since then. He’s had impeccable talent on his team. What has he done with it? Nothing. You just standing on that one championship and I go about are you maximizing the player? Are you maximizing the talent? And that’s how I judge the coach. Are you maximizing? Are you putting the players in the right positions? If Elton Brand ever did an interview and he does an interview and he tells the truth, ask him. Ask him what I said. I said when he decided to get Doc, I said Doc is gonna ruin that team and Ben Simmons is gonna be out of there because he won’t know how to coach him when he hired him instead of Tyronn Lue.
#ICYMI: Gilbert Arenas told Sixers GM Elton Brand why he shouldn't hire Doc Rivers 👇 pic.twitter.com/IKAwGMIwBM
— fubo Sports (@fuboSports) May 28, 2022
Arenas’ points are valid. Rivers has had a ton of talent to work with as he has had the likes of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Joel Embiid, Simmons, and now James Harden since the 2008 championship. Yet, he has not reached the conference finals since 2012 with the Boston Celtics.
While Rivers has proven that he can get a team to the playoffs and have success in the regular season, he hasn’t proven that he can get a team over the hump outside of the Paul Pierce-Kevin Garnett-Ray Allen Celtics. It will be interesting to see what Rivers and the Sixers do to bounce back in the 2022-23 season.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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