“Doc Rivers has been one of the most loyal, trustworthy guys around and he keeps getting backstabbed” - Kendrick Perkins reiterates his point about Doc Rivers joining the Lakers, says LeBron will respect him
The narrative of Doc Rivers coming up short in the playoffs continued Thursday, as the Philadelphia 76ers dropped Game 6 to the Miami Heat. After evening up the series with Joel Embiid's return, they suffered back-to-back ugly losses to put an end to their season.
While Doc Rivers is under contract long-term, there has been chatter about his tenure in Philadelphia coming to an end. This all began when the LA Lakers fired Frank Vogel and the Sixers' head coach emerged in rumors as a potential replacement.
On top of the Lakers connection, there have also been reports that James Harden may want to move on from Doc Rivers in favor of Mike D'Antoni. This would complete the Houston Rockets reunion of Harden, D'Antoni, and Daryl Morey.
Following the 76ers' exit from the postseason, Kendrick Perkins rushed to the defense of his former coach.
He feels Rivers should want out of Philly after everything he's had to endure this season. Perkins also mentioned that he would like to see him end up as the next head coach of the Lakers, stating:
“Doc Rivers has been one of the most loyal, trustworthy guys around and he keeps getting backstabbed.”
Do you agree with @KendrickPerkins that Doc Rivers would be better off coaching the Lakers than remaining with the 76ers? 🤔
76ers should be in no rush to move on from Doc Rivers
Even with how things unfolded in their series with the Heat, the 76ers should be in no hurry to make a change at head coach. While many might not agree with how good of a job Rivers thought he had done this season, there is no denying he deserves a lot more credit.
Doc Rivers responds to a question about job security with some spice 👀 https://t.co/wmamVskXUw
For starters, he completely changed the culture in Philly. The locker room went from having constant issues to being one of the tightest-knit groups in the league. The 76ers would not have been in a position to win if not for the culture Doc Rivers instilled.
Secondly, the results speak for themselves. In his first year as head coach, the 76ers secured the top seed in the Eastern Conference and Joel Embiid was in the mix to win league MVP.
He untapped the All-Star center in ways nobody had before and turned him into one of the league's most unstoppable forces. On that basis alone, Rivers should be safe for at least another year.
Judging Rivers solely off this season is extremely unfair.
Between the Ben Simmons saga and integrating James Harden in only 24 games, Rivers was stuck with an extremely tall task. Despite all that, the 76ers still managed to secure a top-four seed in the conference and win a playoff series.
The 76ers need to make some changes if they want to contend moving forward, but head coach is not one of them.