Philadelphia 76ers‘ assistant coach David Joerger is returning courtside on a full-time basis, according to the team. Joerger left the 76ers in mid-November to receive chemotherapy, among other treatments for cancer. Joerger had said that they caught it early enough to where it had a very high survival rate. The entire Philadelphia staff and team supported Joerger as he went through this ongoing battle.
On February 2nd, 2022, it was announced through the team that Coach Joerger would be coming back to the 76ers organization after successful treatments. He will now return to the court full time as one of Rivers’ most trusted coaches. Joerger had this to say after rejoining the Sixers, according to the 76ers official statement:
“Words can’t describe how grateful I am to be back around this basketball team. The last several months have been some of the most challenging of my life, but I am so lucky to have the support of Josh Harris, David Blitzer, Doc Rivers, Daryl Morey, Elton Brand, and the entire 76ers organization….”
David Joerger
Joerger joined the Philadelphia 76ers coaching staff underneath Doc Rivers. After Doc was hired, on October 3rd, 2020, the Sixers and Coach Rivers turned to fill out the rest of the coaching staff, with Joerger being hired on October 15th. The quick turnaround for Joerger and Doc’s connection came after Joerger interviewed for the Pacers then head coaching vacancy, demonstrating the trust and mutual respect between the Rivers and Joerger. For the Sixers, that may mean a spike in offensive production as Joerger had previously been hired as an offensive coach.
The 47-year-old coach had previously worked for the Memphis Grizzlies for nine years and as their head coach for three of them. While in Memphis, he compiled a win-loss record of 147-99. After a lackluster 3rd year with the Grizzlies, Joerger was fired. After being fired from Memphis, Joerger accepted the head coaching position with the Sacramento Kings and slowly started turning them around, turning the 33-49 Sacramento Kings around slowly.
Joerger took an awful team and, in his final season, turned Sacramento into an up-and-coming 39-43 team, posting their best record in years. Then Sacramento President Vlade Divac then fired Joerger after that season, clearing the path for Joerger to come and help the Sixers claim the one seed in the East; hopefully, something that the 76ers can do for the second season in a row.
