“Where there’s smoke there’s fire. If you see these stories percolating, there is a reason for them” - Stephen A. Smith believes Doc Rivers will be fired if the Philadelphia 76ers lose in the first round to the Toronto Raptors

Doc Rivers and his future in Philadelphia was commented on by Stephen A. Smith in Tuesday’s episode of “First Take” on ESPN. During the video, Smith was asked how much pressure he believes there is on Doc Rivers to win this series against the Toronto Raptors.

Stephen A. Smith answered:

“Immense. I believe if Doc Rivers doesn’t win this series he will be fired. And I don’t think he deserves it, it would tick me off about it to be quite honest with you, but I don’t, I have been in Philadelphia and I’ve covered the NBA long enough to know when there’s smoke there’s fire. If you see these stories percolating, there is a reason for them.”

Doc Rivers was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association in 1983. He played point guard for the Hawks from 1983 to 1991 and later played for the Los Angeles Clippers, the New York Knicks, and the San Antonio Spurs. Rivers was an NBA All-Star in 1988.

Doc Rivers began his NBA coaching career as head coach of the Orlando Magic in 1999-00. He was then named the 2000 NBA Coach of the Year in his first season with the Magic. Rivers left the Magic in 2003. Doc went on to coach the Boston Celtics from 2004-2013 (where he won a championship for Boston in 2008), and then moved onto coaching the Los Angeles Clippers from 2013-2020. Rivers left LA for Philadelphia in 2020, where he currently resides.

Stephen A. Smith has a point when he says “when there’s smoke, there’s fire”. We saw it happen just last month with the Los Angeles Lakers and head coach Frank Vogel. There were heavy rumors flowing about Vogel being let go, only for him to then be dropped one fortnight later.

Doc Rivers’ 76ers ended this regular season in 4th place with 51 wins and 31 losses. Rivers dealt with Ben Simmons and his backing out of playing this season, and somehow managed to trade him for James Harden. James has contributed to the team offensively, having averaged 21.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 10.5 assists across 21 appearances for Philadelphia. Rivers is owed some props for handling the Ben Simmons situation as he did and coming out with a player like Harden from it all.

In any case, what Doc has done this season will not stand strong enough. Smith is correct, and Rivers’ future with Philadelphia may in fact rely on this playoff series. There have been rumors that Doc might be moving into a position for the Lakers.

Philadelphia led the series 3-0 after performing great offensively in the first few games of their series. Unfortunately for Doc, his squad’s field goal average started dropping as the 76ers stopped making their shots.

As a result, the Raptors have taken the last two games and brought the series to 3-2, Philadelphia. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs and won, so if the Raptors manage to make history off the back of the 76ers and Rivers, Rivers may just be forced out.

The Philadelphia 76ers play Game 4 of their series against Toronto on Thursday night at 7:00pm EST, where they will hope to seal the series