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Tim BontempsESPN
NEW YORK — Dan Burke, the acting head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, said before Thursday night’s game here at Barclays Center between the Sixers and the Brooklyn Nets that Sixers head coach Doc Rivers is feeling good and in good spirits after entering the NBA’s health and safety protocols earlier Thursday.
“It probably hit him hard in that way,” Burke said, referring to Rivers not being able to be with his players. “He’s like [Atlanta Hawks coach] Nate McMillan always was. He’s got to touch the guys, he said. He always wanted to be around his guys, and I know Doc wants to be here for the guys.
“He says he feels good. He’s not the least bit worried. If there’s anybody who just takes things in stride and keeps it real and keeps it relative, it’s Doc. That’s the lead we’ve got to follow.”
Burke, 62, has been an NBA assistant coach for more than three decades with the 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers and Indiana Pacers. He has had two prior games in which he served as acting head coach, when McMillan was unavailable to coach the Pacers.
“You’re gonna ask the record: 0-2,” Burke said with a laugh. “[Golden State] Warriors and at Charlotte.”
“It sticks in your mind,” he added with a chuckle.
Burke would get a chance to register his first win Thursday night, but would do so with a depleted coaching staff around him. Along with Rivers, assistant coaches Sam Cassell and Brian Adams were out due to the protocols, while assistant coach Dave Joerger has been away from the team for several weeks undergoing cancer treatment.
That left Burke and Jamie Young, Dwayne Jones and Eric Hughes to coach the team Thursday night.
“We’ll have to be ready, we’ll have to be sharp and get after it tonight,” Burke said.
One of the best defensive minds in the NBA for the past couple of decades, Burke admitted that he’s not as comfortable with the offensive side of the ball, and that adjusting to coaching both sides of the floor was going to be his biggest challenge going up against the Nets.
As a result, he said, Philadelphia’s players might have more freedom than they are used to offensively.
“Just trying to give these guys freedom,” Burke said, when asked what the message from Rivers was. “You know, with a guy like me, running it [the players] might have a little more freedom. But what we stress on the offensive end. Defensively, it’s pretty much in our hands. That’s the side I’ve been concentrating on and try to do much the same.
“Again, just play as close to 76er basketball as we can be. Doc Rivers basketball. That’s what our goal is.”
Rivers is the seventh coach in the NBA’s health and safety protocols at the moment, joining Monty Williams (Phoenix), Frank Vogel (Los Angeles Lakers), Billy Donovan (Chicago), Michael Malone (Denver), Chauncey Billups (Portland) and Mark Daigneault (Oklahoma City). Sacramento’s Alvin Gentry and Indiana’s Rick Carlisle were in them earlier this season.