Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers has coached some all-time greats over the course of his career.
The list of players that Rivers has coached includes Hall-of-Famers like Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, and future Hall-of-Famers like James Harden and Kawhi Leonard.
Doc Rivers calls Joel Embiid the most talented player he’s ever coached
However, according to Rivers, none of those guys are the most talented player he has ever coached. That distinction goes go Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid, who Rivers coached for three seasons from 2020 to 2023.
"I was telling a very, very Hall of Fame player that I coached [that] Joel is the most talented player that I ever coached,” Rivers said prior to the matchup between Philadelphia and Milwaukee on Tuesday night. "… The things that you guys see and then the things you actually don't see in practice sometimes that he can do, it's incredible. It really is.”
Given the talent that Rivers has overseen in his career, this is incredibly high praise for Embiid.
When it comes to the Sixers star center, talent has never been an issue, but availability has been, and Rivers lamented the fact that Embiid’s postseason availability was limited during his tenure with the team.
"Unfortunately for me, I never had him healthy once in the playoffs,” Rivers said. “He wasn't healthy last year. He wasn't healthy the year before. That's five years straight.”
Embiid missed at least one playoff game in each of Rivers’ three seasons in Philadelphia, including the first two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Miami Heat in 2022.
The Sixers lost both of those games and ultimately lost the series 4-2. Had Embiid been available for those first two games, perhaps the series would have turned out differently.
The Sixers can’t change the past, though. All they can do is hope that Embiid can remain healthy moving forward. If he can, they’ll have a chance to make some real noise in the Eastern Conference.
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