Report: Sixers’ head coaching job down to Doc Rivers and Mike D’Antoni

The Sixers’ GM Elton Brand met with free agent coach Doc Rivers on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the possibility of hiring the former champion head coach.

It seems like the Sixers are really interested in the idea of Rivers becoming their next head coach as they were rumored to immediately contact his representation after he was let go by the LA Clippers.

A new update came out on national television from ESPN’s senior insider Adrian Wojnarowski:

In a surprising turn of events, it seems like the Philadelphia 76ers are narrowing their search down to a two man race between Doc Rivers and former Houston coach Mike D’Antoni.

It’s pretty surprising to me that the Sixers seem to be completely pivoting away from Tyronn Lue whose name has been in constant conversation for the job since the Sixers let go of Brett Brown. It’s possible that the LA Clippers’ new head coaching vacancy changed things for Lue. Coaching a stacked team featuring Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the sun-filled city of LA might be more appealing than figuring out the current roster construction headache that is the Sixers.

Doc Rivers is a well respected coach and person throughout the NBA, but may lack the accountability that the Sixers have needed over the past few seasons. Reports recently came out that one of Rivers’ biggest flaws was giving preferentiall treatment to the Clippers’ best players:

There’s plenty of positives and negatives to hash out when comparing Doc Rivers and Mike D’Antoni. While D’Antoni’s offensive mind would be welcomed in Philadelphia, he’s never won a championship and is turning 70 years old soon. Doc Rivers on the other hand has proven the ability to win a championship but has also had an extreme problem in closing out playoff series and has even underperformed with some teams.

Regardless of the outcome, Woj’s wording and tone hinted to us that the hiring will likely be made within the near future.