Ex-Warriors’ Coach Questions 76ers for Firing Doc Rivers After Embarrassing Elimination Against ‘Undersized’ Knicks

What would bad luck for an NBA team look like? Undoubtedly, the answer to this question would be the Philadelphia 76ers’ current situation. At the 2023 Eastern Conference Semifinals, the 76ers’ predicament worsened as the team lost a crucial game to the Boston Celtics. Following this defeat, the team decided to fire their head coach. But why?

Since 2020, Doc Rivers has been part of the 76ers. However, he was never able to guide the team to the second round of the playoffs. This failure emerged as the major reason for firing Doc Rivers. As this news aired, it garnered attention from millions of basketball spectators and resulted in many raised eyebrows.

Along the same lines, Mark Jackson also stumbled upon the news and delved into the conversation. He sat down with Mark Jackon Jr., aka Bluu on “Come and Talk to Me” and shared his insights about the topic. The episode was then uploaded to the official YouTube account with the title, “NIGHT MODE: MARK JACKSON’S FORMER NBA TEAMS WILL FACE EACH OTHER |S1 EP38.“

Within a couple of minutes of posting the video online, it started making waves. Sounds interesting, right? So, what did he say that garnered attention from basketball fans?

Unpacking the controversy

Just like everyone else, the former Warriors coach was disappointed by the Philadelphia 76ers’ firing decision. While throwing gauntlets at the Knicks, he said, “undersized basketball team (Knicks) at every position basically had 20 offensive rebounds, and you check the film if you want it was energy and effort they just pursued the basketball and outworked the Philadelphia 76ers.”

Moving on, Mark Jackson made everything clear as he added, “So no question about it, absolutely disappointed, I’m embarrassed by it. This is a team that got rid of Doc Rivers because they didn’t advance. Now, are we going to make an excuse that they had no answer?” But the 76ers’ response to Doc Rivers was not the only reason igniting fire inside Mark Jackson.

After Rivers’ firing, the Philadelphia 76ers hired another head coach, Nick Nurse. Interestingly, Nick too was fired back in April from the Toronto Raptors. The 76ers are starting at 13-7 with the fourth position in the Eastern Conference. Now, the question arises: Why did the Philadelphia 76ers fire Rivers? Was it due to the team’s underperformance or to hire Nick Nurse?