Doc Rivers’ firing ‘shocked’ Joel Embiid, 76ers president Daryl Morey says

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Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid was “shocked” by the team’s decision to fire coach Doc Rivers, president Daryl Morey said during his end-of-season press conference on Wednesday.

Asked about ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith saying that Embiid was unhappy about Rivers’ dismissal, Morey said, “They had a strong relationship.” Then he likened the situation to a trade. 

“I have to make tough calls all the time with trades,” Morey said. “You know, Joel was disappointed in — some of it was he didn’t know the player we were getting in the trade, he ended up helping us — but he was disappointed in the players that went out. I think it’s natural to be very close with the people in the locker room. He was very close with coach Rivers. And yeah, he was shocked about the change. And it’s my job to help convince him that the new coach is someone that he’ll have a great relationship with as well.”

Morey was careful not to criticize Rivers, beginning the press conference by calling him a “first-ballot Hall of Famer” as well as a “great leader and someone I learned a lot from.” As far as why the Sixers will have a different coach next season, Morey did not offer many specifics.

“My job is to evaluate everything,” Morey said. “And we felt like that was the best move for helping us get to our goals going forward. It was carefully thought out, and I recommended it to ownership and they accepted it.”

Coaches, like players and executives, “have strengths across different things,” Morey said, “so sometimes it’s a fit thing. It’s like, you know, we need a little more of this and a little less of that. It’s not any specific, like, we need X; it’s like, with the new coach, the mix of strengths that they have, how are they going to work with the mix of strengths of our players? And we feel like this was the right decision to move forward.” 

Morey said Philadelphia is “looking for someone who brings leadership, accountability, someone who is good at tactics, someone who has great relationships with his star players and someone who is good at recruiting star…

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/doc-rivers-firing-shocked-joel-embiid-76ers-president-daryl-morey-says/

Author : James Herbert

Publish date : 2023-05-17 19:34:41

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