WATCH: Sixers Begin New Era, Introduce Doc Rivers As Head Coach

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Sixers hoped to officially open up a new era of championship basketball on Monday as they introduced basketball legend Doc Rivers as their new head roach.

A former NBA All-Star in 1998 and NBA Coach of the Year in 2000, Rivers guided the Boston Celtics to the 2008 NBA championship. He was likely the biggest name and most experienced coach available on the market for the Sixers once they decided to move on from longtime head coach Brett Brown following an early playoff exit this summer.

During his introductory news conference, Rivers said he had already spoken with Sixers stars Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Shake Milton, Matisse Thybulle. He made clear what the expectations were for the hyper-talented but thus far underachieving group.

"We talked about winning immediately, with each one of them, and the expectations," Rivers said. "And that I'm gonna need them to buy in, as a group."

>>76ers Fire Brett Brown

Rivers, 58, spent the last eight seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, guiding them to the Western Conference semifinals earlier this summer.

"There's no such thing as a complete team. Every time has flaws," he said, noting that both the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers, the two teams in ongoing NBA Finals, both have flaws which "you could pick apart." He noted two areas the team could improve on: load management and offensive consistency.

"Have you seen me walk?" he chuckled, pointing to the importance of keeping players fresh in order to make a deep postseason run. "I walk like that because there was no load management."

He also expressed confidence that Simmons and Embiid comprised a core that could win an NBA championship, noting that when both young stars are healthy, "they win 65 percent of the games they play."

In 20 full seasons of coaching, Rivers' teams have missed the playoffs only four times. The Clippers played to well over a .600 winning percentage during his time in Los Angeles, though he did not see success past the first round of the playoffs while there. His lifetime caoching record is 943-681, a .581 winning percentage.

Watch the stream of Rivers' press conference here:

Other candidates for the Sixers open job included Clippers assistant Ty Lue. Original reports that the Sixers were considering Villanova head coach Jay Wright were denied by Wright.

The start date for the 2020-21 season has not yet been announced, as the delay of the 2019-20 postseason will cause it to be pushed back considerably. League officials are targeting a start date around Christmas, rather than the typical early October beginning to the season.