All 76ers

Philadelphia 76ers Finalize Doc Rivers' Coaching Staff

After hiring Doc Rivers back in September, the Philadelphia 76ers have officially finalized the process of creating a new coaching staff.

Justin Grasso

The Philadelphia 76ers have finalized bringing on the new members of the coaching staff, the team officially announced on Monday. Per the announcement, the Sixers will welcome Dave Joerger, Sam Cassell, Dan Burke, Popeye Jones, Eric Hughes, and Brian Adams to the bench for the 2020-2021 NBA season.

Changes within the Sixers' organization became inevitable following a disappointing playoff series loss to the Boston Celtics back in August. Despite being a team that was "built for the playoffs," seven-year head coach Brett Brown failed to get the best of his awkwardly built, understaffed team during the 2020 NBA Playoff run.

The Sixers' 2020 playoff run ended in a sweep during the first round of the playoffs, which ended up becoming Brett Brown's worst postseason outcome since the Sixers began making it to the playoffs under his management back in 2018.

Brown was inevitably fired in August, which led to the eventual hiring of veteran head coach Doc Rivers. With Rivers' arrival in September, changes to the Sixers' coaching staff were happening rapidly. 

And after months of considering handfuls of candidates, Rivers ended his search for assistants and is confidently gearing up for the next phase of the offseason as he believes his new staff is built to help the team win a championship.

“After taking this job, one of my top priorities was forming the best staff in the NBA,” Rivers said. “I’m thrilled with the way it came together as this group boasts years of valuable NBA experience, both playing and coaching, and each member brings a championship-level mindset to the table. I’m confident in my staff’s ability to best support our players and look forward to getting into the lab with our team as soon as we get the green light.” 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_

Published
Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA

Home/News