Philadelphia 76ers Down To Their Top Two Coaching Candidates, Doc Rivers And Mike D’Antoni

By Jordan Long

The Philadelphia 76ers are down to their top 2 candidates for their Head Coaching vacancy in Doc Rivers and Mike D’Antoni.  They met with Rivers yesterday about the job opening and will make their decision this week.

                Rivers might be the best coach to take over the 76ers.  Rivers brings in 21 seasons of NBA Head Coaching experience.  His stops include Orlando, Boston, and the L.A. Clippers.  Rivers’ record is an impressive 943-681, a winning percentage of .581.  His teams went to the playoffs 16 times.  Rivers advanced to the NBA Finals with the Boston Celtics in 2008 and 2010.  The Celtics won the NBA Championship in 2008, beating the L.A. Lakers.

                This past season Rivers coached the L.A. Clippers.   The Clippers had title aspirations but fell short.   L.A. advanced to the 2^nd round and were even up 3 games to 1 over the Denver Nuggets.  They looked like they were going to cruise to the Western Conference Finals to face the Lakers.  The Nuggets won the next 3 games to win the series, costing Rivers his job.

                D’Antoni has been a coach in the NBA for 16 years.  He coached the Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, L.A. Lakers, and Houston Rockets.  His overall coaching record is 672-527, a winning percentage of .560.  D’Antoni’s teams advanced to the playoffs 10 times. D’Antoni wasn’t able to coach a team to the NBA Finals, but he came close in 2006 with the Suns.  They made it to the Western Conference Finals but were beaten by the Dallas Mavericks in 6 games.

                This year he coached the Houston Rockets.  The Rockets ended up as the 4^th seed in the Western Conference Playoffs.  They were beaten in the 2^nd-round by the L.A. Lakers in 5 games.  D’Antoni had his chance to stay in Houston but agreed to step down as Head Coach.

                Philadelphia can’t go wrong with either one of these candidates.  They both have shown to be successful in the regular season.  Their teams have made the postseason often with a chance to win an NBA Title.

Philadelphia wants to win an NBA Championship.  The coach who could deliver one is Rivers.  He has been to the Finals twice.  Philadelphia will take the rest of the week to figure out who should take over as Head Coach. It wouldn’t be shocking if they hire Rivers.  He seems like the favorite to land the job.