The BroadCast | Reaction Pod! Doc Rivers is the Sixers' New Head Coach

seasons in Los Angeles. Within forty eight hours of Doc Rivers becoming available, he was in Philadelphia fern interview less than twenty four hours after that. The wheels were in motion for the fifty eight year old Rivers to become the twenty fifth head coach in franchise history. The Doc is in the building. Sources have confirmed that the Sixers have reached a deal with Doc Rivers. The star power with Mbiad and Ben Simmons, you have some other very

good players of big market in Philadelphia. Those were all components for Ernst got him right back in. You look at that personnel, doc Rivers scheme, the way he coached Doc Rivers. Why got that job. I really going to bring that structure to the phill League. He's going to get the bit out of Joe will embat I strongly believe that Joe William beat Mike whenn' the MVP makes you. On this episode of the broadcast Reaction Doc Rivers the

next head coach of the Philadelphia seventy six Ers. It is an occasion, so amenas we are being represented in three out of the four time zones in the contiguous United States. I'm Brian Seltzer coming to here from North Liberties. I'm time Againness from Phoenix, Arizona, and i am Warren Rosen in Houston, Texas. Guys, we are gathered here for this edition of the broadcast to discuss none other than the hiring of the twenty fifth head coach in franchise history,

and it's Rivers. I mean, my first reaction is wow for two reasons. Wow Because earlier in the week, at the start of the week, if you go back to Sunday, he wasn't even available. Then he became available, and now the seventy sixers have him. So I think before we get into the different layers of this hiring, I'm still

very much in a wow frame of mind. And I want to start with you time because you've seen Doc as a player at the back end of his career and during the entirety of his ten years ahead coach in the league. Well, actually, Brian, I go back further. I saw him as a college player in Milwaukee at Marquette as a junior. We happened to be the same age.

And at that point my college basketball career ended and I was a reporter, and at the time I was with Northern Illinois and Doc was playing at Marquette, and I actually asked the coach if I could travel up. We had a game up there in Milwaukee, and the coach of the Northern Milinois Huskies at the time let me go on the team bus. I wanted to see Doc play, so we actually played at the same time. Clearly he was a much better player. But from Maywood, Illinois.

He went to provis A East High School just west of Chicago, and that was a storied basketball program even in years prior to Glenn Rivers Doc Rivers playing there, So to your bigger point, and then I did see

him in college in the NBA. In fact, his first year it was with the Hawks in their training camp was in Charleston, South Carolina, at the College of Charleston, and I was covering the I was working in television there, and low and behold, Mike Fortello brought the Hawks in there, and I talked to Doc at that time, and we've reminisced about that many years ago. But to your overall point, it's it's very exciting because at this time, and really in a lot of lost seasons, but certainly for the

Sixers now have a coaching vacancy coming in. It was almost like a game of musical chairs, and at a certain point, you know the music was going to stop and who was going to be your coach? And there was talking about Lou and of course Billy Donovan took the Chicago job and Dan Tony and then as you say, Doc Rivers became available and that change of dynamics. So they got a tremendous head coach, two time Coach of

the Year, NBA champion, totally respected. He's gonna get his thousands win with the Philadelphia seventy six ers, whether it's in twenty twenty one or twenty one season or the following year. He's very close. And I believe nine sixty four to a great day for the sixties. It really is. I echo what you both said. I was so excited

and a little surprised. Obviously, he just came up on the market this week, he's already been to Philadelphia, and now he's getting ready obviously to come back more long term. So this is something really exciting. I have a little bit less experience watching him coach, but what I do know is that he is a relationships guy. Ask anyone around the league, other coaches, other players, players who have

and haven't played for him. They love Doc Rivers. He's just one of the high character, role model type figures in this league, and I think Philadelphia is really lucky to someone that brings those types of qualities to the table. When you watch any team that at least i've seen usually Clippers teams. When the Clippers come to town, there are players on the opposing team that want to just say hello to Doc, that want to have a conversation

with Doc. There are reporters that love having conversations with Doc. So to have somebody like that, to get to start building relationships of our own with him, it's something I'm really excited about. It's interesting to say that, Lauren, because when you just watch some of the interactions, it jumps

out that factor that he commands respect. I was going through We have access in our department to the Getty Images photo archive, and you know that these photographers who take photos of all these basketball games and lo and behold from the game the Clippers played against the seventy six ers at the Center in February. After the game, there's Doc and Joel Embiid engaged in a very congenial, friendly handshake. Just seeing that there was that immediate friendship

and camaraderie brought on by respect. And Doc's a name teamac like you said, He's been there, He's done that, and it's incredible to me that this is going to be his twenty second year as a head coach in the NBA. Nine hundred forty three wins, that is such a massive number. He's missed the playoffs only once in the last thirteen years. And when I think of all the positives surrounding the profile of Doc as a head coach, t mac he's a guy who during that time has

seen just about everything on the court. On the court, superstars, managing relationships and adapting with the times of an evolving style of playing the league, no doubt about it. And that's what you get is a lot of that experience. And I missed the wins by twenty but he's going to get it with the Sixers in the next two year or so. So the biggest thing in the NBA

is a head coach is respect. And he's got it the second he walks into the gym, the second he puts that whistle around his neck and walks on the floor, he's got that and our players are going to know that. Of course, the bias has already played for him with the Clippers, which I think is going to be really important. And he's been in all those crucial moments to win a championship, you know, and then they wanted an O eight in Boston in twenty ten. They were in that

finals with Kobe against the Lakers. So he's seen all the coverages, he knows everything about the NBA and he's

been in all those situations. And then again it's a he's an incredible person, I think, you know, I think we all saw that on a different level in the bubble when he talked about when there was the restart to the restart, and he talked about, you know, so eloquent they look at it made the national news and I think anybody that listened to that talk about racial injustice and his father being a police officer in Chicago for thirty years and wanting to be treated fairly, it

was really powerful. And so he's a he's a great person. He's an incredible basketball mind that's been in our league at every level as a player and a coach and a podcaster. The only thing he hasn't done really is be in the front office. So it's a great move by the seventy sixers. And you know, you said, you don't know, but I would imagine Doc called Doc all right,

So there's a relationship. So many of the players of that era, you know, looked up to Julius Serving and he's so close to our franchise and got his take. And I don't know that for sure, but you know, he did his due diligence on the Sixers, probably just as they did with him, and two thumbs up. And that's I think, Like I said, it's going to be a tremendous thing to inject new life. He's won the

plus figure in Boston with the Clippers. Sorry, it was only plus one the very first year, but with Orlando was a big number. When he got the Boston there was a huge total win differential in a positive manner. So I think we're going to see that as well. Well, Tommy, you said it, he couldn't be a better ambassador for the game. I think that was super clear in the bubble.

But that wasn't the first time that Doc has found himself in national news, always choosing the right side of history, always being candid and open and having the words when I think it's really it must be really difficult to find the words on the national stage. And he's an

international ambassador to the game as well. Selts, you mentioned that interaction with Joel embiid Ramona Shelburne actually pointed it out today that the two of them did a basketball a Basketball without Borders trip to Senegal together a few years ago, so that might be where that relationship started. But we know that they have a little bit of history there. So whether it's on the national stage, international stage,

this is someone who represents the game. My parents don't follow basketball, but they knew the name Doc Rivers when I told them who our new head coach was going to be, and we saw that same type of excitement from Josh Richardson. We got to see his reaction as he was doing a live stream of his own when he saw the news break. Josh Richardson has not played for Doc, but he was really excited for the opportunity

to do so. So I think, whether you're a player or you're a parent in Houston, Texas, this is someone you know about and you know that he brings this energy, this aura that's important, that's special, and is going to bring something really different and unique and exciting to this group.

There's great guys to see. Joel chime in in the old Twitter sphere recently minted father Joel embiid that amidst diaper changes and all the other things that come with being a new dad, he tweeted out, welcome to the City of Brotherly Love, Coach Doc Rivers. Excited for the future and what we're building here Philly forever. So an immediate sentiment of positivity from Joel Embiid. One of the things that I did earlier was run through some of the lists of big names that Doc Rivers has coached

over the course of his career. And when you start in Orlando, you had Tracy McGrady, Grant Hill for a season.

You go to Boston, of course there's Pearson Garnett and Alan and Terry Kawhi, Leonard Paul George with the LA Clippers in addition to Blake Griffin, Chris Paul DeAndre, Jordan, JJ Reddick, different guys, different types of players, and I think Tea mac he has shown over the course of his career talking about Doc Rivers that he is an ability to tap in and understand and relationship build with the different types of talents and stars that he comes

across and works with. Absolutely, and not only who he's coached, but who he's played under. He played for the Knicks, he played for the Clippers when Larry Brown was there. I believe he had a stint with the San Antonio Spurs for while. Could be mistaken about that, but he's had a Welt Mike for Tello for definite shure in Atlanta, and he's had a number of experiences to learn from

throughout his career. When you're in the NBA for as long as he's been associated with it, as you say, twenty plus years, as a head coach, a broadcaster and then a lengthy decade plus playing career. You've seen it all and Brian you've touched on and how our game has changed and he's adapted with that. So it's gonna be I think it's gonna be very interesting. I think the team will be re energized, certainly for the Sixers

and the players. You know, they've got a right or wrong that was a very abrupt ending in their playoffs and now it's going to be a new attitude and a new approach. And you know, I think this is obviously a huge part of it in the hiring of Doc Rivers, and something that has become clear when you

dive into Doc and his stops. I mean, I think you can point to an instance everywhere he's been as far as pretty much bringing guys together, whether it was the Donald Sterling incident and navigating the clippers of the playoffs in twenty fourteen, the Boston Celtics when they had to come together, and Lauren, I know that you watch the playbook documentary series on Netflix, the first episode Profile Doc, and it was it's really very well done, great insight

from Doc Rivers, and he lists out different rules that he lives and coaches by. And the one thing that I'm going to take away from that episode was UNBOOTU, the idea of UMBOOTU with the Boston Celtics, and how that two thousand and eight team that won the title bought into that and they truly became more of a we not me type of embodiment and that ideal. Well, if you haven't already watched that episode on Netflix, I actually watched it, I believe, on Tuesday, before I even

knew that this was a possibility. Maybe I was hoping it was, but it was a really special episode. Doc was very candid, and he explained the highs and the lows that come along with being great and the idea of Ubuntu and coming together as one, the idea that he subscribes to that something that I've actually spoken with my family a lot about is if one person gets better, the rest of the group gets better. If one person falls,

the rest of the group falls. And what better way to structure a team than surrounding those types of ideals.

He talked about it a lot when it came to that Celtics championship team in two thousand and eight, and keep in mind, that was a team that missed the playoffs the two years before that, and of course they had some major acquisitions that really up to their ceiling, but it was a team that had disappointed Tom not unlike what you said about this group that's looking to rebound for I'm unfortunate, let's say, ending to this season.

Doc has had experience bringing a group of players together, galvanizing them around an idea that they can be better together, and I think that that's something that he can definitely bring to this group that we know is hungry for a championship and we know can come close to that type of let's say glory, but just hasn't quite gotten over the hump yet. I'm really excited about the way that that spirit can fit in with this group of

seventy sixers. And Lauren, you touched on it, and that's what team is all about, and that's what Doc Rivers preaches. He's a winning person and as a coach who's finally won the NBA championship, and that whole concept of sacrificing for others, you know, like the hockey just ended and I didn't watch a lot other than a little bit

of the Flyers. I didn't watch a lot of the NHL playoffs, but when it comes to a close, I'm watching and I don't care if that's the NBA, if we could get minor league baseball, I know they didn't play because at the end, when a team culminates with a championship, all of the themes are exactly the same, no matter what level it is. And what do they say. They say all the big adjectives, trust, sacrifice, loyalty. These

guys are unbelievable. We did it together. We you know, all of the same things almost to a team, to a man, are stated, whether it's Major League Baseball, the NFL, or the NBA. When it comes to the end, that's what winning teams have, and that's what he preaches, and quite frankly, that's what it's got to be for the Sixers or any team that aspires to reach the gold

medal round the championship level. You know, whether it's set in the screen, or being a supportive teammate, or bringing a great attitude every day, or scoring thirty points or getting the big rebound, all of those little things out up we've seen in the playoffs, I mean in bounding to basketball becomes of paramount importance, so you want to he'll vitualize the habits and play with game speed and the ferocity so that when it's real, when it comes

down to gut check time, you've already been there, and Doc Rivers is going to bring that intensity, that emphasis on execution, team sacrifice, everything. I just talked about a couple other adages it sounds like he lives by guys, is that he embraces pressure, he welcomes it, doesn't run from it. And I think that I'm really curious to see how he comes into this season himself following a tough end to his run with the Clippers in that

second round series against the Danver Nuggets. And also the idea that he seems to promote and preach is that if you're a champion and you have that championship mindset, it's never what's in the past. You just got to keep looking forward and go for it. So I think that's a mindset that could very much mesh well both the narrative surrounding Doc coming into this season in parallel

with the narrative surrounding the seventy six ers collectively. Right for sure, I think another thing that we took from the playbook, which again, go watch it if you haven't. He talked about the fact that Doc Rivers is a big Muhammad Ali fan and literally and figuratively as a fighter. As a boxer, you're going to get hit. You're going it's not a matter of if, it's when and how many times and how often and how you get back up. So, like you said, Sets, this is Doc coming off of

a bit of a disappointing season. And what you said Tom about the seventy sixers, this is a group that has been hit and now it's their time to get to rise together and to hit back. And that's where champions are made. We hear it over and over and over again. It's how you respond to adversity. And if you think about this group of seventy sixers players too, these are guys that experienced adversity before they got to the Sixers. They're a group that's experienced adversity since they've

been with the Sixers. And like you said at the very beginning of this conversation, it selts there's very little in the NBA that Doc Rivers has not seen and he has not tackled. So I think this for him is an interesting new challenge, but he's going to be able to draw on a lot of his path experiences to hopefully put it all together for the seventy sixers. I'm excited, guys. We have the first preseason game what this weekend, and then the regular season opener later this month.

Isn't that I wish it work? Maybe not so much in twenty twenty twenty. I guess why don't we wrap it up on this. We're gonna hear from Doc Rivers at least at this point in time, as far as we know, We're gonna hear from him publicly as the head coach of the Philadelphia seventy sixers for the first time in a few days at the beginning of next week. Tom I will start with you, what are one of the things that you are most curious to hear from him about learning more about him? And then Lauren you

can pick it up after Tom. Well, I mean, I think he's gonna probably lay out because when you get a job, when you interview, even with a track record like Doc Rivers, when you're talking to Alton Brand and you're talking to you David Blitzer and Josh Harris, you have to lay forth a plan and so that they hear your vision, right, I mean, if you listen to the reporting, you know what happened in Los Angeles is that phrases that it comes up so often when teams

part weighs, but that philosophical differences, well, the philosophical differences here obviously align. And so you want to hear the plan and about player development, about getting the most of your players. You got two All stars in your chock full of talent and bringing this team to a whole other level. And you guys kind of both just touched

on these things, and that is underdog. You know, you start to create a chip on your shoulder, which is never a bad thing to be the hunter, you know, you know you we're not the hunting yet, we got a lot to prove and so and Doc Rivers is not above learning a little bit from his past experience and using that growth and bringing that to the Philadelphia seventy six ers. And same thing with the players. So that's what I think we're going to hear. And you

know Lauren had mentioned earlier about relationships. That's really what it comes down to, so that the players build a trust in the coach And likewise, when you're a coach and you're putting the players out there, you've got to be able to trust that they're going to execute and get it done. That's how you become successful. And style of play will be something that he will talk about and that's what I'm referring to in terms of the

philosophical you know, the plan, the platform like that. So I think Philadelphia is gonna like this guy and in that same Philly tough mantra that has to be within the fabric of any coach in any ball club that plays in our city because that's what our city demands. I'm excited, I'm pumped, ready to go. Let's start it right now. Guys, Thank you so much, and I'll have a lot more to say in the days and weeks ahead about Doc Rivers, now head coach with the seventy

six ers. Thanks for hopping on all right, Brian, Big thanks to t mac chiming in from Phoenix, Arizona proper where he's doing a little vaka, and Lauren Rosen for connecting from her hometown of Houston, Texas. A lot to come on the seventy six Ers podcast. Network Feed next week we'll bring you complete coverage of the introductory press

conference featuring Doc Rivers. And also it's going to be Vote seven to six week on the podcast network Feed, getting out of the vote, spreading the word and what is also National Voter Education Week, so look out for a bunch of new episodes coming next week. I'm Brian Seltzer saying so long for now, Thanks so much for tuning in, and we'll talk to you next time here on the broadcast. Let's see it