ELTON BRAND

The Duke-North Carolina rivalry has been filled with future NBA stars and intense finishes through nearly 100 meetings in Mike Krzyzewski's Hall of Fame tenure with the Blue Devils.

Retiring Duke Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski's influence on the sport will last long past his final game.

Morey hasn't had to make any major moves in his first season running the Philadelphia 76ers. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)PHILADELPHIA – Like any top NBA executive this time of the season, Daryl Morey is trying to better his roster. “I just grabbed all the Sixers,” Morey said. “Younger fans want to feel like they’re part of something,” Morey told The Associated Press in an interview this week. “Well, we happen to have the best inside players in the NBA,” Morey said.

Pressed on Embiid and Simmons, Morey quipped he was low on the tenure board. “I think they absolutely can work together,” Morey said, “but Doc’s been here a little longer than me. “Whatever my role needs to be, I accept that role,” Brand said. “The goal is not to shoot 3-pointers, the goal is to win,” Morey said. Or Morey and Rivers, who bring decades of sustained winning to Philly and will demand players do it their way?

Morey stepped down as GM of the Rockets earlier this month after failing to lead the franchise to the NBA Finals. The Rockets made the playoffs 10 times since Morey was hired in 2007, including the last eight seasons, for the longest active streak in the NBA. Morey and the Rockets split a little over a year after he sparked a rift between the NBA and Chinese government. Morey caused an international uproar last year when he tweeted support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. Morey tweeted an image that said: “Fight For Freedom.

PHILADELPHIA – Doc Rivers takes over a team tasked not with leading a Process-type rebuild or massaging the egos of two talented — yet frustrating — All-Stars. Enter Rivers, the 58-year-old former NBA guard who coached the Boston Celtics to the championship in 2008 and another NBA Finals appearance in 2010. Just two days after he split with the Los Angeles Clippers, Rivers was in Philadelphia with ownership and general manager Elton Brand, and on Thursday he accepted the job to succeed Brett Brown. If good things are going to happen in Philadelphia, Rivers needs more than social media support out of the talented 7-footer who has battled injuries and struggled with conditioning. “Embiid is a better scorer, obviously, and does things, and size, you can’t plan for that,” Rivers said at the time.

PHILADELPHIA – There's a new Doc in Philadelphia — one charged with reviving a 76ers organization that fell far short of NBA championship expectations. Rivers takes over for Brett Brown, who was fired after the 76ers were swept in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Rivers spent seven seasons with the Clippers, making the playoffs in six of them — major success for a once-woebegone franchise. He is 1,624-943 in nearly 21 seasons as an NBA coach. He was the 1999-00 NBA Coach of the Year.

PHILADELPHIA The next coach of the Philadelphia 76ers can count on having Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. I would love to see this group with Ben Simmons, but I dont want to make any excuses. The new coach also has got to find that balance on how to push these All-Star players to that next stage. You have a great mix of veteran players, young players learning how to win in this game. Ive grown as a leader and Ive grown as a general manager, Brand said.

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown reacts after receiving a technical foul during the third quarter of Game 4 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (Kim Klement/Pool Photo via AP)PHILADELPHIA The Philadelphia 76ers fired coach Brett Brown on Monday, a day after his seventh season ended in a postseason sweep. The 76ers were 43-30 this season and had woefully underachieved in a year when they were expected to be serious contenders in the Eastern Conference. Instead, they weren't close, and the move was expected after the sixth-seeded Sixers were swept by the Boston Celtics. Brown had guided the 76ers back from the bottom of the NBA but someone else will try to take them further. I have a tremendous level of respect for Brett both personally and professionally and appreciate all hes done for the 76ers organization and the City of Philadelphia, genreal manager Elton Brand said in a statement.

But we believe in the leadership of the league.Embiid had 30 points and 14 rebounds in his return from a sprained left shoulder, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a 124-106 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. The instruction was to come in and play the game, Brown said. And, the Sixers and Pistons played in front the last game with fans at the Wells Fargo Center for an undetermined time. TIP-INSPistons: Pistons coach Dwane Casey on how he might change his approaching coaching in an empty arena: Probably cuss less. Christian Wood led the Pistons with 32 points. 76ers: G Josh Richardson also returned to the lineup after he missed three games while in the concussion protocol.