Delusional: Former Sixers coach Doc Rivers makes an insane claim about his legacy in the NBA

While the basketball world continues to crumble around the Philadelphia 76ers and Sixers fans in general, leave it to everyone’s favorite former head coach Doc Rivers to gives us a good laugh with his latest round of delusional comments about his legacy in the NBA.

Doc Rivers just can’t help himself. The former Sixers coach, who is known for his playoff collapses and ridiculous deflections, recently spoke out about the biggest stain on his NBA coaching career. And in classic Doc Rivers fashion, instead of owning up to his failures, he actually doubled down, acting like he’s some untouchable coaching genius.

Former Sixers coach Doc Rivers doubles down

Doc Rivers says he doesn’t get enough credit for winning three games in the playoff series where he blew 3-1 leads

“No one tells a real story. And I’m fine with that. It’s unfair in some ways. I don’t get enough credit for getting the three wins. I get credit for losing. I… pic.twitter.com/JEASLzAS8K

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 24, 2025

Not that this needs to be said but literally no amount of “context” can erase the fact that Rivers is the only coach in NBA history to choke away three separate 3-1 leads. But if you ask him, none of it was his fault.

With Doc Rivers, there’s an excuse for everything

In 2003, when his 8-seed Magic team collapsed against the Pistons? Just an underdog taking a better team to the limit. In 2015, when the Clippers melted down against Houston? Blame Chris Paul’s injury, not the fact that his team folded in historic fashion.

And in 2020, when his Kawhi and PG led Clippers blew it against the Nuggets? Well, I guess we’re supposed to just pretend that one didn’t happen at all.

This here is exactly why us Sixers fans grew to hate this guy. It was never his coaching, never his rotations, never his adjustments (or lack thereof). Nope, it was always some outside force conspiring against him. We had to sit through years of this nonsense in Philly and watch him get out coached time and time again in the playoffs, yet refuse to take any accountability or blame.

The worst part about all of this? Doc Rivers genuinely believes his own delusion.

At the end of the day, Rivers will always have his one shining moment—the 2008 Celtics championship. And trust me, he’ll never let you forget it. But guess what? That was nearly two decades ago. Since then, his playoff résumé is littered with collapses, wasted talent, and a refusal to evolve as a coach. The man has coached multiple championship-caliber rosters and yet keeps finding new and creative ways to come up short.

I haven’t even touched on the shortcomings and just insane decisions Doc made when he was here in Philly. For starters, he did everything in his power to stunt Tyrese Maxey. Do we all remember that? He kept playing old, washed players over the young, hungry talent on the bench, which would ultimately cost the Sixers in the long run every single time.

For some reason, he was so stuck in his ways that he initially left Paul Reed out of the lineup in favor of one of his favorite veteran backup big men. However, when Bball Paul finally got his chance, he made a very positive impact. Rivers had this to say:

“Not gonna go in the Paul Reed victory tour. So don’t start. We’re trying to win a world championship, man.”

Obviously us Sixers fans have a very good understanding of who this guy truly is. And now, as he tries to rewrite his legacy, we just see right through him. Doc River’s attempt at saving the perception of himself as an NBA head coach could ultimately cause Giannis Antetokounmpo to leave the Milwaukee Bucks.

But even with that said, I’m so damaged by this era of Sixers basketball, I’m not sure I even find that humorous or enjoyable.

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