Report: Former Sixers head coach Doc Rivers set to join ESPN’s top announcing team

If you want to hear more about how a backup center isn’t going on a victory tour or how a team’s offense isn’t a democracy, you might just be able to tune into ESPN starting in the fall. Per reporting from Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, former Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers will be joining ESPN’s top NBA announcing team for the upcoming season.

Jeff Van Gundy was fired by ESPN in June and per Marchand, it looks like Mark Jackson will be given the option to join the “B” announcing team or head elsewhere. Mike Breen will remain in the top play-by-play slot with Doris Burke getting promoted to the other analyst role.

This new job for Rivers comes after a whopping 24 straight years as a head coach, spanning time in Orlando, Boston and Los Angeles, before the three seasons in Philadelphia with the Sixers. Rivers, of course, was dismissed by the Sixers back in May and later replaced by former Raptors head coach Nick Nurse.

Personally, I think Doc will be good in this role. He’s always been capable of producing interesting sound bites, about stuff both on and off the court, and he has a full rolodex’s worth of relationships around the league. I’d imagine Rivers will enjoy getting away from their all-consuming daily grind of the coaching life, providing him more time to be out on the golf course. With Breen and Burke alongside him, Doc will have elite teammates to help him adjust to the new position.

Time will tell if Rivers will ever be back behind a bench, but at least for the upcoming 2023-24 season, Doc remains in your lives for a couple nights a week, Sixers fans.