‘Doc Rivers used to ignore Clippers’ analytics staff’: Daryl Morey’s Sixers move could cause issues in Philadelphia

Doc Rivers was fired because he would ignore the Clippers analytics staff, which is the opposite of how Daryl Morey approaches the game.

This 2020 offseason has not been short of any firings or hirings. It was reported that Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers was relieved of his duties and on October 15, Daryl Morel stepped down as GM for the Houston Rockets.

The 76ers wasted no time as they snagged Rivers as soon as they got the chance. With Rivers being named the new Head Coach, the Sixers believed they needed to switch up the front office too. So they hired Daryl Morey to head basketball operations.

Conversations with the Sixers and Daryl Morey started shortly after his departure from Houston, escalated in recent days and will culminate with Morey becoming the Sixers new President, sources tell ESPN. Doc Rivers and Morey have a strong relationship and history together.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 28, 2020

Reasons as to why Rivers was fired were muddled with smokescreens but latest reports reveal something quite worrisome.

Doc Rivers was let go because he would ignore the analytics staff

With the analytics boom that was started by Daryl Morey, almost all teams started to employ staff members who understood the ‘Moneyball’ trend.

Clippers too have an analytics teams, headed by Jud Winton and Gregory Peim. However, recent reports that have surfaced suggest that Doc Rivers would frequently ignore the analytics staff.

Also read: ‘I’m always changing to win, it’s a fact’: Doc Rivers’ statement after joining Sixers angers Clippers fans

This is the reason why the Clippers lost in merely the 2^nd round of this year’s Playoffs. Rivers failed to make adjustments when it was clear his original game plan was failing.

Will Doc Rivers and Daryl Morey butt heads?

Daryl Morey is perhaps the biggest believer in the analytics style of play in the NBA. His team is always using numbers and data to put their players in a better position to win.

Also read: ‘He changed my life and NBA’: Daryl Morey thanks James Harden and Rockets organization in full-page newspaper ad

Morey did this with the Rockets for 13 years alongside Mike D’Antoni for the latter part of those years. D’Antoni had also bought into the analytics approach.

However, with Rivers and Morey running the same team, it will be interesting to see if the intense analytics approach will still be employed.