• 6 months ago
During his introductory press conference with the Philadelphia 76ers, Doc Rivers said he considered taking a break from coaching.
Transcript
00:00 Former LA Clippers head coach Doc Rivers was officially introduced as head coach of the
00:05 Philadelphia 76ers on Monday afternoon in a press conference led by general manager
00:08 Elton Brand.
00:09 Rivers mainly discussed what his plans are as coach of the team in the future, but he
00:13 also gave some insight into what his thought process was like as a part of what he said
00:16 to the Clippers earlier last week, saying, "I love coaching, but I was not going to
00:20 coach just anybody, I'll tell you that.
00:22 I was ready to take a break and just spend it on the team that was available, and I felt
00:25 that team, in my opinion, was ready to win.
00:27 For me, coaching Philadelphia is a job that I just couldn't turn down, and that's why
00:31 I'm here."
00:32 Now, it's no surprise Rivers considered taking a break from coaching.
00:35 Not only has he been a coach since the turn of the century, but Rivers has endured plenty
00:38 of hardships in that stretch of time.
00:40 There are deep playoff runs and long seasons, and those aren't things really you complain
00:43 about, but they are taxing, and especially seasons like this past, the timetable is thrown
00:48 completely off the norm.
00:50 The Rivers has also experienced disappointing playoff runs, the multiple blown 3-1 leads
00:53 come to mind, and plenty of off-court issues as well.
00:56 One that stands out most from the group is Donald Sterling's outstanding from the NBA,
01:00 and the difficulty Rivers had to go through to continue to lead the team to the playoffs
01:04 that season.
01:05 No one would have blamed Rivers for taking a break this year, but it's excellent to see
01:09 him right back in position to lead a team that can compete for an NBA title.
01:11 In relation to the Clippers fans, it might not be so great right now, but Rivers did
01:15 more as coach of the franchise than any other that came before him.
01:19 It's only right to wish him luck in Philadelphia.

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