Sixers make it official, hire Glenn “Doc” Rivers as next head coach

There it is. The Sixers have named Glenn “Doc” Rivers their new head coach. Rivers brings to Philadelphia a championship pedigree, having won a title with the Boston Celtics in 2008. Following that stint, he spent the last 7 seasons as head coach of some Clippers squads that featured Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and eventually Kawhi Leonard. Most importantly, the first thing everyone is now wondering is if play-by-play legend Marc Zumoff (who famously refuses to call Rivers “Doc” because as he says ‘there’s only one Doc in Philadelphia and that’s Dr. J Julius Erving’) will refer to him as Doc or Glenn!

Rivers, as ESPN’s Senior Insider, Adrian Wojnarowski notes, ascended rapidly in the eyes of the Sixers. Doc is charismatic and apparently persuaded GM Elton Brand that he was the best person for the job of delivering a parade to Broad Street. Do you remember the time Doc had his players stash $2600 in cash atop the Staple Center visitor’s locker room in order to convince the team they’d be back here to win the ‘08 finals?

Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue, who once may have been considered a front-runner for the job, eventually took a back seat to both Rockets’ former coach Mike D’Antoni and Rivers. The Sixers met with their final candidates so clearly Rivers rose to the top of their list after face to face meetings.