I’m still reeling from last night’s gut-wrenching Game 7 loss to the Raptors and Game of Thrones’ Battle of Kings Landing. There were questionable decisions and strategies aplenty in each. While many took to Twitter to defend Brett Brown like Ser Jorah or attempt to slaughter the one in charge like Danerys, two of the better quotes on the Sixers gave their thoughts on their coach’s future with the team.

Joel Embiid

So, there’s that. I wouldn’t expect Joel to publicly bash the only other person of note to have lived through The Process with him his entire career. He also said this of his need to improve:

JJ Redick

On his coach:

Seems like it’s pretty obvious that I love Brett and love playing for him. I think what he’s done for this organization is nothing short of remarkable… I don’t think my opinion of Brett really should matter to people that have questions, nor do I think there’s any level of accountability that is owed. For any NBA team, when you think about a coach and replacing that coach, you have to consider what coaches are available. That’s just in general. I don’t feel it necessary to defend Brett to anyone. I think his work speaks for itself.

I take a couple of things from this. Redick doesn’t think people should give his opinion a ton of weight, because he’s not a foundational piece of the organization and is probably unlikely to return to the Sixers next season if Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris sign large extensions. The latter part of the quote sounds like something any responsible podcaster with a national audience would say. He does make an astute point that people need to think about who’s actually available. Look at the unmitigated disaster that was the Lakers’ search for a Luke Walton replacement. Unless you want to rock the boat with a college hire -see Jay Wright- or an unprecedented hire like Becky Hammon from the Spurs, all I see on the market are Van Gundys and a bunch of other NBA retreads unlikely to make a difference in Philadelphia.