On Tuesday, the 76ers fired head coach Doc Rivers after three seasons. Here are the best memes and tweets from Rivers’ sacking.
There’s only so many Game 7s a Hall-of-Famer coach can afford to lose. For Doc Rivers, his time at Philadelphia met the end of its rope after a bitter defeat to the Boston Celtics that saw the 76ers miss out on the Eastern Conference Finals this year.
That was Rivers’ 10th loss in a Game 7 and his fifth consecutive loss in playoff history. The Philadelphia 76ers coach joins Mike Budenholzer, Monty Williams, and a few other high-profile leaders of franchises that disappointed this past season, and they have now collectively landed in the unemployment club.
Some people around the league will maintain that Rivers was merely a scapegoat for Philly’s larger issues. Others will cackle with delight upon seeing Rivers pack his bags and seek a fresh start elsewhere.
Rivers did lead the 76ers to 54 victories in 2022, the franchise’s most in over two decades. That Game 7 against Boston looked like it was going to be the guillotine, though, especially given Rivers’ pitiful record in gotta-have-it playoff games.
Here are the best memes and tweets in reaction to Rivers’ sacking.
Doc Rivers out as 76ers head coach: Best memes and tweets of the day
doc rivers coaching in a game 7: pic.twitter.com/BiPibQ2JEl
— Molly Morrison (@mollyhannahm) May 14, 2023
Damn doc rivers got fired off James harden and Joel embiid turning into mason plumlee and Kyle kuzma vs the Celtics pic.twitter.com/8XXfjcGKNz
— John (@iam_johnw) May 16, 2023
Doc Rivers clearing the search history on his Sixers devices pic.twitter.com/0vJJwJ0eVh
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) May 16, 2023
Woj letting Sixers fans know Doc Rivers got fired https://t.co/sayY2hQ2RX pic.twitter.com/JCxwNDTJCU
— Chris OIIey (@chrisoIIey) May 16, 2023
Doc Rivers after getting fired for blowing another 3-2 lead in the semi-finals pic.twitter.com/EO5XZWxple
— Kory Waldron (@Just_KWal) May 16, 2023
Doc Rivers about to join Dwight in Taiwan pic.twitter.com/83WelTXLi0
— SSB (@SSBKlutch) May 16, 2023
Doc Rivers at his next coaching job: pic.twitter.com/cciiWhYPDc
— boredjesse (@boredjesse) May 14, 2023
Doc Rivers’ Bucks in the eastern conference finals against Monty Williams’ 76ers next year is going to be awesome.
— Mike Golic Jr (@mikegolicjr) May 16, 2023
Rivers, who technically had two years remaining on his contract, failed to help Philly advance past the second round of the playoffs in the last three years.
His sacking, while unfortunate, was generally expected, and he should be able to land on his two feet on another NBA team.
Now, what to do about James Harden….
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