Inside The Heat

Doc Rivers Fired A Day After Erik Spoelstra Questions Why So Many Experienced Coaches Are Losing Their Jobs

The Philadelphia 76ers reportedly fired Doc Rivers Tuesday after losing in Eastern Conference semifinals

Shandel Richardson

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It only took one day for Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra's words to hit home. 

A day after Spoelstra was critical of proven coaches losing their jobs, the Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers after his third season according to an ESPN report. 

“I’ve been thinking more about the great, proven, experienced coaches that have lost their jobs already,” Spoelstra said as the Heat prepared for another trip to the Eastern Conference finals and a matchup against Boston that starts Wednesday. “It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

Rivers was eliminated from the Eastern Conference semifinals in each of his three seasons in Philadelphia, losing to the Boston Celtics this year despite a 3-2 series lead. 

Spoelstra said he wished teams were more patient. Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, Nick Nurse (Toronto Raptors) and Monty Williams (Phoenix Suns) were also fired recently. 

“It takes so much time and energy to restart something,” Spoelstra said. “And I think that’s part of the reason why we’ve been able to reboot so many times, over and over and over. We’re not reinventing a new culture and then trying to teach everybody and then all of a sudden, two years later, it’s going to be somebody else doing the exact same thing. But particularly to have proven veteran guys (fired), it’s just been stunning. It really has been disturbing.”

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

TWITTER: @ShandelRich

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

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