James Harden question unanswered as Doc Rivers makes decision on Sixers future

15 May 2023 , 13:10

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Doc Rivers says he plans to remain as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers (Image: Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images))

Doc Rivers has confirmed his intention to remain in charge of the Philadelphia 76ers despite their recent NBA Play-Off defeat to the Boston Celtics.

The Sixers were beaten 112-88 in Game Seven of their Eastern Conference semi-final on Sunday. Jayson Tatum racked up 51 points for the Celtics, while Sixers guard James Harden could only manage nine points in the elimination match.

Tatum and the Celtics will now prepare to face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals which begin this week. The winner will face either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Denver Nuggets as the winners of the Western Conference.

However, the Sixers are now facing a lot of criticism following the defeat to the Celtics. Rivers and his team were 3-2 in the series going into the home match in Game Six, but could not close out the series.

Rivers has now 10 Game Seven losses in his career as an NBA head coach, which is twice as many as any other coach. The defeat has led to speculation that he could be finding himself out of a job, but that’s not the way he sees things.

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Speaking to ESPN and reporters after the game, Rivers confirmed his intention to remain in charge of the Sixers. "Yeah. I think I have two years left,” said the 61-year-old when asked about his future.

James Harden was asked about his future with the Philadelphia 76ers after the NBA Play-Off defeat to the Boston Celtics (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

There has also been a lot of talk about Harden’s future with the Sixers after his performance in the series against the Celtics. The guard managed to rack up only 22 points across Game Six and Game Seven when the series was there to be won.

ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith was heavily critical of Harden’s performance against the Celtics. He labeled the display as “career-defining bad” for Harden. As a result, there is speculation that Harden may have played his final game for the Sixers. The 33-year-old was asked about his relationship with Rivers and whether or not he thinks the Sixers head coach should return for next season.

However, Harden’s answer was rather brief. He simply said: "Our relationship is OK,” and did not answer the part of the question about next season.

Despite this, questions were still asked to Harden about his future, but when directly asked for what his plans are after the season, he said: “I haven't even thought about it,” before later adding: "I just want to have a chance to compete."

Harden would give a more lengthy answer when asked about the defeat to the Celtics. The Sixers guard praised Boston’s defense, but could not hide his feelings for how the Sixers did not perform as well as they could have done.

"They did a really good job,” said Harden. "Robert Williams was in the paint, you know what I mean? We made him pay early, and then we kind of went away from what was working and kind of everything slowed down."

Mark Wakefield