Doc Rivers throws James Harden under the bus after firing from Philadelphia 76ers

That sound you hear is a bus braking to avoid hitting impending free agent James Harden. Weeks after being given his walking papers following three seasons as the 76ers’ head coach, Doc Rivers is airing things out. It’s not great.

Rivers appeared on the Bill Simmons podcast recently, explaining why it didn’t work between him and Harden. His take was very interesting. It could also be seen as the championship-winning head coach using Harden as a fall guy.

“It was challenging. More because we were fighting two things — and not like visually fighting. It’s that James is 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 him younger, when that was easier for him, because giving up the ball and coming back to it is hard. It’s physical and it’s exhausting.”
Doc Rivers on coaching James Harden (1:01:17 mark)

It’s probably not a good thing to admit that there was a rift between yourself and the former NBA MVP. There certainly are a few ways to interpret things. Rivers did note that a some of the issues related to Harden’s somewhat advanced age and the fact that the impending free agent can’t do the same things as when he was with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets earlier in his career.

Even then, these words don’t necessarily paint Rivers’ relationship with Harden in the greatest of lights. They also come after a report back in May suggested that Harden was the “driving force” behind Philadelphia firing Rivers.

Following Philadelphia’s premature exit at the hands of the Boston Celtics in the second round of the NBA Playoffs, indications were that Harden didn’t want to play for Rivers. Apparently, the feeling was mutual in that Rivers was done coaching the future Hall of Famer.

“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, he was still scoring — but he was doing more playmaking and scoring,” Rivers on James Harden. “And then the second half he started scoring more and I thought we got more stagnant at times. I thought we changed.”

James Harden’s future and rift with Doc Rivers

It’s not yet known whether Harden’s stance on Rivers led directly to the head coach being fired. It’s more likely that Philadelphia’s inability to advance past the conference semifinals in each of Rivers’ three seasons played a larger role.

However, it is interesting that this came with Harden slated to hit free agency. He’s going to opt out of his contract for the 2023-24 season and hit the open market next month. Indications are that Harden is leaning in the direction of returning to his former Houston Rockets team.

Philadelphia ultimately replaced Rivers with another championship-winning head coach in that of Nick Nurse. Whether this move plays a role in Harden’s decision-making process remains to be seen.

As for Rivers, he was a finalist for the Phoenix Suns’ opening before they hired Frank Vogel. Now that the final head coach opening has been filled, the 2023-24 campaign will likely be the first without Rivers being a head coach in the NBA since all the way back in 1998-1999.