Doc Rivers is heading back to NBC, and that means Sixers fans are going to hear a very familiar voice when Philadelphia lands in the spotlight next season.
According to Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy, Rivers will return as an NBA game analyst after his stint coaching the Milwaukee Bucks ended. NBC isn’t holding his abrupt move from the booth to the sideline against him, even after he left the network in the middle of the 2023-2024 season to take over a Bucks team that had just fired Adrian Griffin.
That coaching run in Milwaukee never really found its footing. Rivers took over during the 2023-2024 season and the Bucks finished 17-19 the rest of the way before bowing out in the first round.
The next year brought a 48-34 record, another playoff trip, and another first-round exit in five games. Then came 2025-2026, when Milwaukee stumbled to 32-50 amid rumors and injuries surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Rivers stepped down at the end of the regular season.
Even with that rough finish in Milwaukee, Rivers’ coaching résumé still carried enough weight to land him in the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame. His head-coaching career began in 1999 with the Orlando Magic, where he spent five seasons before moving on to the Boston Celtics for a nine-year stretch.
He also spent seven seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, a run that didn’t produce a title but did help stabilize a struggling franchise. After the 2019-2020 season, the Clippers moved on, and Rivers quickly found his next stop in Philadelphia as Brett Brown’s replacement.
Rivers coached the Sixers for three seasons. Each year ended the same way in one key sense: a playoff berth and a series win. But the team never got past the second round, and after the 2023 run, Philadelphia made the change to Nick Nurse, who is still trying to push the 76ers beyond that barrier.
Now Rivers will be part of the coverage when those same Sixers are in the national window. Philadelphia is set to max out on primetime games next season, with a schedule packed with NBC appearances, and that means the former coach will be back to breaking down the team he once led.
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