Doc Rivers shares his thoughts on Harden in playoffs, Embiid, Sixers' culture

Doc Rivers does not plan to hold any sort of official role in the NBA for the 2023-24 season.

He’s still got opinions to share, though.

Rivers appeared on The Bill Simmons Podcast following the Nuggets’ championship-clinching win Monday night. Nearly a month after the Sixers fired him, Rivers discussed the team’s culture, his experience coaching James Harden, and more.

While he wasn’t too specific on the topic of the Sixers’ culture, Rivers said he believes the team must continuing improving in that area. 

“(General manager Elton Brand), when he brought me in, that’s what he told me: ‘Hey, this is not just about coaching this team. We’re bringing you in here to change the culture,’ and he meant everywhere,” Rivers said. “And he allowed me to come in, and we looked through the whole organization. I’m talking about trainers, equipment managers, everybody. … If you’re not on board, if you’re not trying to win, if that’s not what you’re breathing every day, then for me, it’s time to go. And I admit that with everybody in the organization. Overall, I thought we were starting to get it done. You could see the change in the culture. 

“So I think the growth of that is there. I think they still have some growth (to do) in that department as well. Very media-alert is the word I’m using, and sometimes you can’t worry about that. You’ve just got to do your job; you’ve got to worry about the basketball part of it and not the reaction to when everything happens. But their culture has definitely gotten better. I had a big part in that. And now they’ll grow from there. … And if that happens, then they have a chance. If it doesn’t happen, they’re not going to win. It has to keep growing.”

Rivers framed reigning MVP Joel Embiid’s trajectory in a similar way. 

“No. 1, he has to be healthy in the playoffs,” Rivers said. “And this (year) was the healthiest (he’s been), but he still wasn’t 100 percent. Then No. 2 for Jo is he’s got to make all his players better in the playoffs. … And he has the ability. Now, I stayed on him daily. He has the ability to make his teammates better and when he does that … if you look at our games this year when he did that and dominated, hard to go away from Joel Embiid. It really is. He’s just got to do that on a consistent basis — not just on the court, but also off the court. Just be around your guys and spend time with your guys and let them know that you love ‘em, because they love you. 

“And so I thought that Jo, in the (past) three years, you could see the growth there. We forget how young he is. We also forget his first two years, he didn’t play. And I’m telling you, that sets a tone. When you miss two years and you’re sitting there all the time and you get used to not playing in games, that sets a tone. Ben Simmons went through the same thing; he missed (his) first year.

“So fighting that early on, when I first got there, was huge: ‘Jo, you need to play tonight. Jo, you can play tonight.’ Now he’s up in games (played), so he’s crossed that barrier. The next one is making his teammates better. When he does that, it’s going to be hard to stop. And I think he will do it. I just think we forget his age and we forget how he started in this league.” 

After the Sixers’ Round 2, Game 7 loss to the Celtics, Embiid said he thought Rivers had done a “fantastic job.”

In contrast, Harden described his relationship with Rivers simply as “OK” that night.

“It was challenging,” Rivers said of his experience coaching Harden. “James is so good at playing one way, and the way that I believe you have to play to win is, in some ways, different — because it’s a lot of giving up the ball, moving the ball, coming back to the ball. I would’ve loved to have him younger, when that was easier for him, because giving up the ball and getting the ball back is hard. It’s physical, it’s exhausting. So it would’ve been interesting if I’d had him younger, where he could’ve done that more — coming off of dribble handoffs, going downhill. He didn’t finish as well as he finished (in past years) because he’s older, and that happens. 

“So yeah, at times to get him to move it and play the way I needed him to play … I thought the first half of the year, we were the best team in the game. I thought James was playing perfect basketball. He was the point guard of the team and he was scoring, but he was doing more playmaking. … And then the second half, he started trying to score more, and I thought we got stagnant at times. I thought we changed.”

Though the Sixers started the season 12-12, they went an NBA-best 36-10 between Dec. 9 and March 18. Harden then missed four consecutive games in late March with left Achilles soreness that he said had been bothering him “for some months.”

Harden was special at times in the postseason, scoring 45 points in Game 1 against Boston and 42 in Game 4.

However, in Games 6 and 7, Harden totaled 22 points on 7-for-27 shooting, 16 assists and 10 turnovers. 

“I don’t think anything’s missing (in the playoffs). I think what makes James great is that he’s one of the best individual players to ever play the game,” Rivers said. “Ball handling … dribbles the ball, attacks. But that also allows (the defense) to attack; you know where he’s at and you know where the ball is at. And so in the playoffs, when teams are game planning against you each game — double teaming, taking the ball out of your hands, making it harder — it’s easier to do that to James compared to … how do you take Steph (Curry) out of a game? He’s running around, he’s moving; it’s hard. 

“It’s funny, we beat Golden State (in the 2014 playoffs), and (Warriors head coach) Steve Kerr used how we trapped him in Games 6 and 7. … He used that and showed Steph, ‘Hey, it’s too easy in big games down the stretch to stop you, because they know where the ball is at.’ You remember in Chicago, (Bulls coach) Doug Collins used to let Michael (Jordan) bring the ball up the floor. And then they got in the playoffs, and you knew where Michael was at, so you attacked. Then Phil comes in and the triangle was moving. Now, at the end of the game, Phil Jackson still went to pick-and-roll with Michael Jordan. 

“Having said that, it was the movement and the inability to find where you could trap him that made it so hard. And I think that’s James’ kryptonite right now. But I don’t believe the whole thing that he quits and all that stuff. I just think teams make him struggle because they know where he’s at and it’s easier to find him.” 

Regardless of how exactly this offseason plays out for Harden and the Sixers, it appears quite likely that Embiid and Tyrese Maxey will remain core pieces of the team’s future. 

Simmons asked Rivers about which sort of player would be the ideal fit offensively next to that duo. 

“If I could pick a perfect guy, without a name, it would be a big point guard who could score,” Rivers said. “And the reason is we need a playmaker other than Joel. And Maxey right now is more of a scorer. He’s a downhill scorer with speed. The dude brings joy to every coach in the room. You would love Tyrese Maxey just every day being Tyrese Maxey.

“But when we could free him up to just go score … you could make a case (for someone) like a (Manu) Ginobili, who at times was (the Spurs’ point guard) with his passing. He gave them toughness, was an attacker, was great off the ball. But that allowed Tony Parker to just go and be free. Someone in that category would be the perfect fit for that team.”