On Thursday, Doc Rivers grabbed an opportunity to carve out a tandem of a young man – Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons – whose star would excite any coach, but had yet to exploit their talent. Rivers joins the Philadelphia 76ers Foundation with title aspirations believing that a promotion off the bench can fulfill those expectations.

The Sixers have a lot of work to do, both in the front office and down the court. They need shooting tools and game creators to be able to develop a competitive attack game plan. Rivers will be tasked with the latter, but the bulk of Rivers’ score will ultimately depend on how he is shattered, inspired, and taught by Empiide and Simons.

It’s not unlike the move he took seven years ago, when Rivers left Boston for Los Angeles on a mission to lead an intriguing Los Angeles Clippers team that had some moderate success but never reached its full potential. The core of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and Diandre Jordan had exhausted his belief in Finney Del Negro as Head Coach and wanted someone who could instill a spirit of heroism. With a planned reconstruction of Boston, Eye of Rivers began to wander. When Paul and Griffin sent signals that his title-winning pedigree was exactly what the team needed, he jumped at the opportunity.

Over his next four years with the Lob City group, Rivers averaged over 54 wins per season. There were extended stretches of optimism, and he provided a sound structure for attack and defense. Rivers’ leadership in 2014 during the Donald Stirling fiasco showed the kind of cuteness and emotional intelligence that Paul and Griffin initially attracted to him.

In the end, the Clippers didn’t keep his promises and broke up. Rivers was unable to replicate the clever touch that brought the Big Three of the Boston Celtics together, and in the end, he was as central to workplace drama as any player on the list. After two transition seasons, the franchise starred in two major stars, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. But Rivers was never again able to get them to the finals, losing the seventh game to the Denver Nuggets in the second round on September 15 after leading 3-1.

Despite the disappointment of the Clippers’ seven-year run under Rivers, none of that dissuaded the Sixers from tasking them with the responsibility of jumping their team – and their stars – to the competition.

Rivers is especially happy to challenge young players to cast aside any imagination they have of their games, and to embrace a challenging but rewarding role. Soon after landing the job in Los Angeles, Rivers met Jordan in Nobu, the young center’s favorite place in Malibu. Not only did Rivers tell Jordan to give up his desire to be an integral part of crime, but he shouldn’t expect to see one call. Instead, Rivers said Jordan should focus his skills on becoming a hub for all NBAs who can stabilize the Clippers defense. Jordan accepted the challenge and was named to three All-NBA teams and an All-NBA Defensive Team.

It’s too early to recognize the specific challenges Rivers face before Empiide and Simons, but rest assured that improvement will be necessary. It’s possible that the on-court parts of their game are just one part of their new to-do list. Rivers will inherit his first team in 13 years as his best players weren’t leaders, either by example or emotionally.

Those who have coached and played in Philadelphia for the past two years rarely distinguish the young star in this context. Simmons have steel intensity, and Embiid’s charisma can be magnetic, but there are good reasons for Sixers to take over Jimmy Butler during the 2018-2019 season, and sound explanations for the emergence of a leadership void after his departure in the last season.

It is part of your job [as a head coach] Rivers told ESPN in early September: “To be honest and tough on players, try to make them better teammates.” They actually thought about the basketball part – and they probably did individually. But did they come to this from a team perspective? “

Rivers noticed at the time that he had his share of confrontations with two players, some of whom hated playing with him. But he emphasized that those disputes were rarely about basketball. Because of his persistence – and those who have played with him say he can be consistent – he understands, often better than they do, how they can help the team as a unit, whether through their role on the field or their influence. about him.

Rivers said of the relationships among his team-mates: “I’m very involved in it, and some players just don’t like it.” “I’m tough on players. Playing right – I won’t let you play wrong. That’s just what I am in basketball life. Some players like it, and they can play for it – and some players don’t.”

Rivers will dispense with confidence, as he did this season when Leonard and Patrick Beverly came up with an idea: let players see the movie themselves, and their own editing mode (a series of game clips), while the coaching staff does their own. The two groups will then present their amendments, accompanied by specific issues that need attention.

Although the Sixers may benefit from a system, Rivers has always been more pragmatic as a coach. When he thinks of his team away from the facility, he tends to imagine specific ways of freeing his players for the sake of looking good, rather than a specific structure to accommodate their skills. Has tendencies – for example, likes to generate half of court crime by enabling mobile threats, constantly moving capture and shooting. But it is not dogmatic. Be it speed, firmness, and spacing, he will determine the size of his list and build on his strengths.

Early in his tenure before the trust between them had deteriorated, Rivers urged Griffin – self-criticizing the mistake – to be easier on himself, and encouraged him to make use of the ingenuity in his game, an instinct that Griffin had been doing but was not always confident of putting it into practice. . Finding the balance in the Embiid portfolio will be an interesting discovery exercise. The defensive piece is there, but helping Embiid turn into an offensive fulcrum – how to make basketball better “in terms of a team,” says Rivers – will be interesting to watch when the 2021 season begins.

Rivers and Simons interesting game. They are both introverts who prefer to keep their own company, although Rivers is more expressive – he’s a model for Simmons upgrading his locker room game while he’s still the same. On Earth, Simmons is the ultimate puzzle. In the bubble, Simmons played a hybrid – essentially, point guard from wrong, powerhouse in the middle of forward shots in half-court possessions. It’s a Rivers-esque pragmatic hit that can be sustained, but Rivers will need to unlock more. Simmons’ hunch is strange, and Rivers could better earn his trust by finding new ways for him to score.

For all the coaching in the arts of being a teammate and maximizing player play, Rivers will excel if he can take the pressure off Empid and the Simons. To be clear, they must definitely embrace their standout roles and perform best when the matter is most important. But Rivers will succeed as head coach if he can relieve the pressure when things go wrong in Philadelphia.

Rivers has always been among the best coaches in the league dealing with his players with the front office, the media and the fan base. But if he had suffered a certain failure with the early ouster of the Clippers two weeks earlier, he had found no ways to help the team through losses in their last three losses. Leonard is uncommonly independent, even when the game is more difficult, but there were moments during periods of 0-for-11 droughts and rampages of Nuggets when the team likely needed a lifeline – guidance in the form of specific prescription. Rivers often do not share this formula. The Clippers eventually wilted under that pressure, as they did against Houston in 2015, the last time they blew up a 3–1 lead. Trust between the player and the coach is the currency that ultimately drives the team’s economy. Rivers value this coin deeply, and sometimes very deep.

Now he makes a new start par excellence, like the Clippers, wants to start an emotional and tactical leap. Its dynamic young stars need to refine their roles and challenge their fortitude. Looking at the Sixers’ hefty payroll, he should find extra skills hidden beneath the surface of the training court. Above all, it should be the very best version of Doc Rivers, the coach who commands respect through generating trust, and using it fully.