For Sixers coach Doc Rivers, inauguration ‘was awesome for a lot of reasons’

Doc Rivers was a vital person in urging people for vote in November’s presidential election.

On Wednesday, the 76ers coach watched the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States. The ceremony marked the commencement of the four-year term of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“It was awesome for a lot of reasons,” Rivers said before the Sixers hosted the Boston Celtics at the Wells Fargo Center. “Obviously, being involved on that side and seeing the people you want to go in office go in office. Kamala is not only the first brown, I would say more female and female vice president.”

Harris, the first Black and of South Asian descent to be vice president, has known Rivers for nine years. So the inauguration was emotional for him.

“Just really a neat day for me and just a lot of people,” he said. “It was a good day.”

Rivers has reached out to Harris since the election in November. They spoke over the phone and exchanged a couple of text messages.

“I got a feeling starting today my text may not go through anymore,” he said, “because I know they change phones as of today I think is the way the do it. So that will be interesting.”

Celtics coach Brad Stevens was also excited about the inauguration.

Stevens, who also watched it, called Wednesday a day full of hope.

“I thought obviously a lot of emotional moments,” he said. “I thought the Harvard graduate Amanda Gorman was amazing.”

His wife, Tracy, was at home in the Boston area and told him their daughter, Kinsley, was on a break from virtual school for a few minutes when Harris made her walk down into the crowd.

“I think that Tracy described it as an emotional moment for her and for Kinsley and any of us who have daughters,” Stevens said. “You see a lot of awesome moments today and we’re hopeful it means we are going to make progress toward the important stuff.”

Isaiah Joe has benefited from increased playing time due to Sixers’ injuries and having players in the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

The rookie shooting guard has averaged 12.4 points in the last five games heading into Wednesday’s contest. After shooting 4 of 18 in the first game, Joe shot 51.6 % from the field in the next four. That included him making of 14-of-28 three-pointers in those four games.

Despite that the odds may be against him remaining in the Sixers rotation once everyone returns.

“It’s gonna be tough,” Rivers said. “But yeah, I mean, he’s a guy that can make shots. But so can Shake [Milton], so can Furkan [Korkmaz], so can Danny Green, so can Seth Curry.

“He’s just in a lineup of guys that we have. It’s a great luxury.”

In Joe, the Sixers have the luxury of having another player off the bench that can make shots. In addition to knocking down shots, Joe was a solid defender for the Sixers.

For now, his time on the court provided experience to do just that. Joe feels defense is an underrated part of his game.

“So I just let people know I can play both ends of the floor or something that I’m continually trying to prove,” said Joe, who had three blocked shots and three steals in the five-game stretch. “Hopefully that will [provide] some minutes in the future.”