Doc Rivers Shares Why He Wishes He Could Have Coached a Younger James Harden

The former 76ers coach explained why he wishes he could have worked with the former NBA MVP earlier in his playing career.

Doc Rivers fell short in his goal of winning an NBA championship during his 76ers tenure.

Nearly a month has passed since Philadelphia fired Rivers following the franchise’s epic Game 7 collapse to the Celtics in this year’s Eastern Conference semifinals. As Rivers navigates the process of landing his next coaching opportunity, the former 76ers coach joined The Bill Simmons Podcast and discussed his struggles leading the franchise and the difficulties of coaching a star like James Harden.

On the show, Rivers told Simmons that he and the 10-time All-Star clashed on playing style during games. As a result, Rivers described coaching the 33-year-old as “challenging” while also wishing he had the opportunity to work with Harden earlier in his career.

“It was challenging,” Rivers said on the podcast. “… James [Harden] was so good at playing one way, and the way I believe you have to play to win, in some ways is different because it’s a lot of giving up the ball, moving the ball and coming back to the ball. I would’ve loved to have [James] when he was younger, when that was easier for him. … I thought the first half of the year we were the best team in the game.

“I thought James was playing perfect basketball, he was a point guard of the team … but he was doing more playmaking and scoring. And then the second half he started scoring more, and I thought we got more stagnant at times.”

While the two did not always see eye to eye on coaching philosophy, Philadelphia sat on the verge of earning an Eastern Conference finals appearance, as Harden averaged 21 points and NBA-high 10.7 assists during the regular season and 20.3 points per game in the playoffs, including two 40-point performances in the best-of-seven series against Boston.

But in losing in the semifinals for a third consecutive year under Rivers, Philadelphia switched gears and parted ways with the 61-year-old. Harden reportedly remains “torn” between remaining in Philadelphia or returning to Houston, where he blossomed into one of the league’s greatest scorers.