Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas Praises 76ers’ Doc Rivers For Playing Through Joel Embiid

The Philadelphia 76ers embarked on “The Process” for years with former coach Brett Brown. But after seven years of no success, he was fired. They replaced him with Doc Rivers, who has had a fantastic start to his stint. He has used Joel Embiid as his primary option, and so far, it is paying dividends.

Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas was also impressed with how Rivers is getting the best out of the team through this style of play.

He said, “For so many years watching Philadelphia play, we never knew if they’re going to play through Ben or Embiid. You can see they’re playing through Embiid and he is delivering. That opens up everything for the perimeter players. You got Harris and Danny Green, who can knock down a three but also lets Simmons be the playmaker that he’s allowed to be… Doc Rivers has found a way for Philadelphia to play. It’s not up and down shooting the three, it’s their style of basketball and Embiid is flourishing under this style.”

Will playing through Joel Embiid deliver a title for the 76ers?

The last time a team won the NBA title led by a big man was in 2011. The Dallas Mavericks, led by Dirk Nowitzki, had one of the best postseason campaigns to win their first-ever NBA title. This 76ers team is more talented and has more depth than Nowitzki’s 2011 team.

But the 76ers need to carry their current momentum into the postseason as well. Tonight, they had their best game of the season, as they beat the Lakers by one point. Embiid had a big game scoring 28 points. He had 13 free throw attempts, which shows that the Lakers had a tough time dealing with him in the paint.

In the 15 games that Embiid has played, the 76ers have lost just twice. He is repaying the faith shown in him and is playing like an MVP candidate. If the 76ers finish as the number one seed in the East, he could potentially win the award which would make him the first 76er since Allen Iverson to win an MVP.

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But Embiid’s focus will solely be on the title, and not individual awards. They haven’t won a title since 1983, and Embiid and co will be eager to put an end to this drought.