After Harden left the Nets to join Philadelphia, it was rumored that Philadelphia might consider hiring D'Antoni, after all, he coached Harden for four years with the Rockets. But according to the latest reports, Philadelphia City coach Rivers is safe.
According to veteran NBA reporter Mark Stein, sources tell him that Philadelphia believes Rivers can overpower the new pair of Harden and Embiid, even though Rivers has often pulled across in the playoffs in the past. At the same time, Rivers has led the team to perform well in Simmons' long absence this season, which has also won him the affirmation of the team's owner.
D'Antoni currently serves as an advisor to the Pelicans, where he worked as an assistant coach at the Nets last season and worked with Harden again.
Rivers has coached a number of teams in the past, and the most popular he got was when he was coaching the Celtics. In 2008, he led the team to beat the Lakers as the head coach of the Celtics, under his coaching, the Big Three Garnett, Pierce and Ray Allen had a very good chemistry reaction, and the Celtics also defeated the Lakers with Kobe and Gasol in the Finals, and Rivers also won his first and current only championship.
But Rivers also had a lot of time in charge. In addition to coaching the Celtics being led by James during the Heat era, Rivers was also reversed by the Nuggets in the 2019-20 semifinals with a 3-1 overall lead, and he also left the Clippers. In the past, he has twice coached a team that was reversed after taking a 3-1 lead in the playoff series.
Now, the pressure for the championship came to Philadelphia. When Harden left the Nets and left Durant and Irving, his combination with Embiid was widely favored, and Philadelphia's hopes of winning the championship began to increase. For now, Philadelphia does have a chance in the East, which has been generally performing this season, but given that Harden has often crossed in key games in the past in the playoffs, can Rivers lead the team to the championship? And thus fill a gap in Philadelphia that has been 39 years without a crown? It also depends on his ability to pinch Harden and Embiid.