The Los Angeles Clippers had a great run during the 2010s, consistently competing for the NBA championship. They had a core group with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. The Clippers surrounded them with competent role players like Jamal Crawford, JJ Redick, Matt Barnes and many more. However, they couldn’t win a title in the tough Western Conference, despite having Doc Rivers as their coach.
Under Rivers, the Clippers became the Lob City. They entertained the fans with their flashy style of play. In the regular season, the team was excellent. However, they often collapsed in the playoffs.
In the recent episode of “Club 520 Podcast,” Barnes appeared as a guest. He discussed a feature of the Clippers that put a stop to their run during his guest appearance. According to the former NBA player, the moment Rivers signed his son, Austin Rivers, to a three-year, $35 million contract in 2015, when he was the team’s president of basketball operations.
Barnes claimed that it ruined the Los Angeles Clippers’ run.
“He brought his son over, and it was just some weird energy there,” Barnes said. “He paid his son. I’m not even mad. If I was in the position, I pay the sh*t out of my son, too. But people don’t understand at the time what that did to people.
“I mean, he was making more than me, Jamal (Crawford), JJ (Redick), like guys that were putting in real minutes, you know what I mean? Playing in crunch time. And it kind of, without knowing, kind of had people looking at him funny.”
Rivers was part of the Clippers’ organization until 2020.
How far did Doc Rivers lead the Los Angeles Clippers?
Credit: Getty Images
Despite the widespread belief that Rivers was a poor coach, the Los Angeles Clippers chose to stay with him. Even after the Lob City era was over, the organization was still loyal to the head coach. Which is why they kept him until the 2019-20 season.
However, even though they’ve moved on from a different identity, he still made the Clippers a playoff team. Regretfully, the team was unable to advance past the second round of the playoffs. The only time the team made it to the Western Conference finals was the season after he left the team. During that time, Ty Lue was already the head coach of the team.
In Rivers’ final playoff run, he pushed the Clippers to seven games against the Denver Nuggets. However, the team came up short again under his leadership. After his stint in LA, he was hired as the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
