76ers coach Doc Rivers intends to return next season; James Harden has yet to mull his future - ESPN

BOSTON — After losing in the Eastern Conference semifinals for a third year in a row, Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers said he intends to return as the team's coach next season, while James Harden said he hadn't begun to think about what his offseason decision-making process would be like ahead of determining whether to opt into his contract for next season or become a free agent.

«Yeah,» Rivers said after his team fell 112-88 to the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals here on Sunday afternoon. «I think I have two years left.»

Rivers, who was hired after the NBA's bubble in the winter of 2020, has presided over three straight seasons with improved records, going from 49 wins in 2020-21 to 51 wins last season to 54 wins this year — the most Philadelphia has had in any season since 2001, when Allen Iverson won the NBA's Most Valuable Player award and led the 76ers to their last Eastern Conference finals and NBA Finals appearances.

The 76ers hoped that Joel Embiid winning this year's MVP award would foretell a similar path through the playoffs. Instead, it resulted in a third straight loss in the conference semis, after losing in seven games to the Atlanta Hawks in 2021 and six games to the Miami Heat last season.

When asked where his relationship stands with Rivers, and whether he believes he should be back as coach next season, Harden simply said, «Our relationship is OK.»

Embiid, meanwhile, was effusive of his praise of Rivers — though also said that, as the league has seen with the recent firings of Monty Williams in Phoenix and Mike Budenholzer in Milwaukee, that the coaching business is a tough one, and that he is glad he isn't the one making these decisions.

«Coach has been fantastic,»