Shortly after the Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Boston Celtics in seven games in the second round of the 2023 playoffs, Austin Rivers’ father Doc was fired from his head coaching position.
The 76ers subsequently hired Nick Nurse — who spent five seasons as the head coach of the Toronto Raptors and coached the team to its only title in franchise history in 2019 — to be their new head coach.
The younger Rivers recently said that he won’t say anything positive about the 76ers organization because of how the elder Rivers’ stint as the head coach of the team came to an end.
“I’m not gonna say anything positive about Philly, man,” the younger Rivers said. “They did my pops dirty, bro. I got nothing to say about them. It is personal. Family over everything, bro. Family first, man. Come on Daryl [Morey]. I’m talkin’ to you.”
The elder Rivers now works as an analyst for ESPN, while the younger Rivers is still a free agent, as no team signed him during the offseason after he played the 2022-23 season with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The 76ers have had a successful 2023-24 regular season to this point without the elder Rivers. The team owns a 13-7 record, which is the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference at the moment. The only teams in Philadelphia’s conference with superior records are the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic.
Star big man Joel Embiid has picked up right where he left off after winning the league’s MVP award last season. In 17 games played thus far, he is averaging 33.1 points, 11.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists while shooting 51.1 percent from the field and 32.1 percent from behind the 3-point line. Plus, he dropped a whopping 50 points in the team’s most recent game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.
However, the 76ers have cooled off a bit of late after starting the season off hot. Over their last 10 games, they own a 5-5 record.
The 76ers will aim to pick up their second win in a row when they host Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
