Doc Rivers to meet with 76ers on head-coaching vacancy

NBA: Playoffs-Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles Clippers
Doc Rivers is meeting with the 76ers in the Philadelphia area.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia 76ers aren’t waiting long to have a crack at Doc Rivers.

Just two days after he was fired from his post as Los Angeles Clippers head coach, Rivers has a meeting scheduled with the 76ers in the Philadelphia area, as first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania. At this time, it is unknown when the meeting will take place.

It was a quick reaction to Rivers’ sudden availability. He was relieved of his duties in Los Angeles on Monday before multiple reports emerged on Tuesday that the 76ers were interested in the 58-year-old.

Rivers has spent 21 seasons as an NBA head coach, sporting a 943-681 record with 16 playoff appearances, two Eastern Conference titles, and a 2008 NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics.

Should he get the Sixers’ job, he’ll have the difficult undertaking of finding a way to get Philadelphia’s All-Star duo of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons over the proverbial hump as real contenders in the Eastern Conference following a disappointing 2019-20 season in which they were swept out of the first round by the Boston Celtics.