Clippings: Doc Rivers reportedly close to becoming Sixers head coach

Doc Rivers is no longer the LA Clippers head coach and he may have a new job by the end of the week, after flying to Philadelphia on Wednesday and interviewing for the vacant Philadelphia 76ers’ head coaching position.

In fact, he reportedly stayed in Philly to watch Game 1 of the NBA Finals that night with Sixers brass, either an extension of his job interview or a celebration if they’ve agreed to terms already.

There is the possibility that Rivers meets with the Sixers but keeps his options open if they like him. Don’t forget, Rivers leveraged his job with the Celtics to get VP of basketball operations at the Clippers so he knows how to play the game. And you know, more power to him. But while the Clippers go through their options to replace him, Rivers could be wrapping up his rebound move in no time at all. We’ll see.

More news for this Thursday:

• Game 1 of the NBA Finals in the books: The Lakers won the game, and the Heat’s Goran Dragic suffered a scary-sounding foot injury, although they are so far claiming he could still play.
• Lue to interview with Pelicans: Ty Lue is currently considered one of the frontrunners for the Clippers job, but Adrian Wojnarowski reported in ESPN that he’s also planning to interview with the New Orleans Pelicans.
• Next season to have fans in arenas? NBA commissioner Adam Silver is hopeful next season will start with teams able to play at their home arenas and with at least some fans able to attend in person. Yeah, we’ll see there. The timeline for the new season is still to be determined, with the current winds blowing for January, reportedly.
• Should Clippers have pushed for Butler? Jimmy Butler gained a reputation of being “difficult” but his ruthless desire to get in the best possible situation in his career has now led to his first trip to the NBA Finals with the Miami Heat. The LA Times’ Dan Woike wonders what could have been if the LA teams had made a real run for him back in the day.
• 20020 Chapter 2 out now! For something totally different, if you’re familiar with the genre-bending multimedia experience of “20020,” good news, as SB Nation’s Secret Base have dropped Chapter 2 of the epic.