“He found out he was getting fired” – Gilbert Arenas upholds Doc Rivers responsible for meddling with Ty Lue’s career
Gilbert Arenas, known for his hot takes, recently said on his podcast that Tyronne Lue was supposed to be the next Philadelphia 76ers coach until Doc Rivers got in the way.
Both Rivers and Lue were part of the LA Clippers coaching staff in 2020. The team lost to the Denver Nuggets after Rivers lost another 1-3 lead in his coaching career.
Before the end of the 2020 season, the Philadelphia 76ers were looking for a replacement for Brett Brown, who had been the team's coach since 2013. Doc Rivers had the initial hand in helping the Sixers find a new coach and pushed Tyronne Lue for the position.
Lue's credentials include winning a championship with LeBron James in 2016 and making multiple NBA Finals appearances with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Once the Clippers lost in the 2020 playoffs, Doc Rivers, who knew that he was getting fired, came back to Philadelphia and wanted the head coaching job according to Arenas on "Gil's Arena."
"Tyronne Lue was supposed to have that team," Arenas said. "This is a true story. Doc sent Tyronne Lue to Philly, lobby for him. 'This is your guy, this is a great coach, this is going to be good for you guys.' Game 7, when Doc found out he was getting fired – called Philly and said I want the job."
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Gilbert Arenas blames Doc Rivers for getting Ben Simmons out in Philadelphia
Doc Rivers coached 236 games, winning 154 from 2020-2023. During that time, Rivers was constantly feuding with Ben Simmons, forcing the player to request a trade.
According to Gilbert Arenas, it was not a surprise because of Rivers' history of in handling players and it also served as karma for undercutting Tyronne Lue for the coaching job.
"You get backdoor like that, ain't nothing good gonna happen," Arenas said. "He don't know how to coach a Ben Simmons-type, and the city's gonna turn on Ben, because you don't know how to tap into that potential. You got to understand basketball to know what a player brings.
"Doc showed in history he don't know how a player works, and he's going to turn on him. And then once you get rid of him, you might as well get rid of him and start over."
True enough, Rivers was fired again after the Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Boston Celtics after going up 3-2 and losing both closeout games.