The Philadelphia 76ers hired Doc Rivers this week to be the team’s next head coach.
Rivers had been let go by the Los Angeles Clippers after they blew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
The Sixers offer a different style of play than the Clippers, but they do have one key player that Rivers coached in Los Angeles.
Tobias Harris played under Rivers before he was dealt to the Sixers during the 2019 trade deadline.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey, Rivers and Harris still have a good relationship.
“Rivers and Harris had a good relationship and still have a good one,” Pompey wrote. “Rivers was demanding of Harris to the point that he would fuss him out for passing up shots. He saw something in the forward and always wanted him to be in an attack mode.”
This is good news for Sixers fans as they need Harris to play much better next season.
The Sixers gave Harris a massive contract extension following the 2018-19 season, but he didn’t live up to it last season.
Harris will look to improve upon his numbers from last year (19.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game) with Rivers leading the way.
