Though Daryl Morey’s and Doc Rivers’ three seasons with the 76ers were synchronized, Morey technically inherited the coach he fired Tuesday.
Rivers was officially hired on Oct. 3, 2020, less than a week after he had been let go by the Los Angeles Clippers. About a month later, Morey joined the organization as the president of basketball operations — and as general manager Elton Brand’s superior.
That order is unorthodox. A front-office leader is typically hired first, allowing them to bring in their preferred candidate as coach. Now, Morey gets his first opportunity to do that with the Sixers.
During his end-of-season news conference last week, Morey said among the qualities he will be looking for in a new coach include “leadership accountability,” establishing relationships (and recruiting) star players, building out a full coaching and support staff, and tactical aptitude.
Morey previously hired three coaches as the top front-office decision-maker with the Houston Rockets. Two (Rick Adelman and Mike D’Antoni) were proven NBA head coaches, while one (Kevin McHale) was a more outside-the-box choice. Morey also oversaw the hiring of Nick Nurse — who will interview with the Sixers next week — to lead Rockets D League-affiliate Rio Grande Valley Vipers during his time with the organization.
Here are those coaches’ profiles — along with the situations they walked into — which may provide keys on what Morey values as he makes his Sixers hire.
Rick Adelman
After firing Jeff Van Gundy shortly after being promoted to general manager in 2007, Morey hired Rick Adelman.
Adelman had been the coach during the Sacramento Kings’ 2000s heyday, but never reached an NBA Finals or a championship. He was expected to bring a more uptempo offensive style to the Rockets, the antidote to Van Gundy’s defensive philosophy. And Adelman was supposed to lead a team with two superstars in Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady.
Injuries, however, largely prevented the Rockets from reaching their potential. Following a roster transformation, including trading McGrady to the New York Knicks, Adelman did not return after his contract expired following the 2010-11 season.
Kevin McHale
McHale initially went from his Hall of Fame playing career to carving out a long tenure as a Minnesota Timberwolves executive, sprinkling in two stints as that team’s interim coach.
But Morey hired McHale for his first full-time coaching gig following Adelman’s departure.
McHale lasted more than four seasons, including a 2014-15 Western Conference finals berth that was Houston’s first since 1997. He guided a team that improved each season with him at the helm (sound familiar?) and that was anchored by stars James Harden and Dwight Howard.
Yet McHale was abruptly fired 11 games into the 2015-16 season, when the Rockets started 4-7. Morey said the players “weren’t responding.” J.B. Bickerstaff took over as interim coach.
Mike D’Antoni
Following largely unsuccessful tenures with the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers — as well as a one-season stint as the Sixers’ associate head coach — Morey hired D’Antoni in 2016.
D’Antoni had previously revolutionized modern NBA offense with the “Seven Seconds or Less” Phoenix Suns, led by two-time MVP Steve Nash. He then adapted to the Rockets’ roster, with layups and three-pointers, a rim-running center and, of course, Harden as the isolation-heavy, ball-dominant, step-back-launching scoring machine.
That all put Houston on the verge of a Finals appearance in 2018, when they were up 3-2 on the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals. But the Rockets’ long-range shooting went cold in Game 7, and D’Antoni later began that era’s breakup following the 2020 bubble.
Morey shortly followed. And then Harden forced the trade to the Brooklyn Nets.
Bonus: Nick Nurse
Morey did not hire Nurse to coach the Rockets. But after Nurse was named D League coach of the year and won a title with the Iowa Energy in 2010-11, the Rockets’ organization lured him to lead the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
Nurse’s offensive style predicated on floor-spacing, driving and kick-out passes already aligned with the Rockets’ philosophy, though Nurse said he also received the freedom to use that environment as his “laboratory.”
He won another D League championship in his second season with the Vipers. After that, he joined the Toronto Raptors as an assistant under Dwane Casey, and kept some of the tactics he had utilized in Rio Grande. He also developed his aggressive defensive style when elevated to Toronto’s head coach following the 2017-18 season, which included an NBA championship.
It would not be a stretch to imagine some of that Rockets-era influence would be carried to his next head-coaching stop.
