J-Speaks: Clippers Oust Coach Doc Rivers After Seven Seasons

 

No head coach has registered more wins; reached the postseason and had a better winning percentage in the history of the Los Angeles Clippers than the lead man they have had on their sidelines the past seven years. They went from a perennial failure of a team to one that became a destination for A-list free agents. A team that was in the conversation of competing for a championship. But after another disappointing finish that saw them fall in the Second-Round again, the front office felt it was time for a change.

On Monday, the Clippers fired head coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers after seven seasons.

The moves comes two weeks after the Clippers lost a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference Semifinals to the No. 3 Seeded Denver Nuggets, falling in seven games.

“Doc has been a terrific coach for the Clippers, an incredible ambassador, and a pillar of strength during tumultuous times,” Clippers Chairman Steve Ballmer said in a statement at the start of this week. “He won a heck of a lot of games and laid a foundation for this franchise.”

The Clippers said that the decision for Rivers to depart as head coach was a joint decision made by him and Mr. Ballmer.

In a statement that Coach Rivers posted on his Twitter page @DocRivers late Monday afternoon, “Thank you Clipper nation for allowing me to be your coach and for all your support in helping make this a winning franchise. When I took this job, my goals were to make this a winning basketball program, a free agent destination, and bring a championship to this organization. While I was able to accomplish most of my goals, I won’t be able to see them all through. Though it was a disappointing ending to our season, you are right there and I know what this team is capable of accomplishing with your support. Thank you to all the players, coaches, and staff for helping us get there. Most importantly, thank you to the fans. We went through a lot, and I am grateful for my time here.”

During his seven seasons as the Clippers lead man on the sideline, Rivers produced a mark of 356-208. Those 356 regular season wins are the most in the teams 50-year history. Rivers also finished his Clippers coaching career No. 1 in winning percentage (.631) and games coached at 564. In what was his final season, the Clippers under Rivers went 49-23 during the regular season, the fourth-best mark in franchise history.

To put the kind of run the Clippers had under Coach Rivers into context, five of the team’s six best regular seasons happened under Coach Rivers’ watch.

While the Clippers reached the playoffs in six of Rivers seven seasons, they never made it passed the West Semis in the three chances they had under their now former head coach, who had a postseason record of 27-32 with the Clippers.

Them blowing a 3-1 series lead this time around against the Nuggets was more painful than  the 2015 Semis against the Houston Rockets, losing in seven games because they were extremely high expectations because of the additions of two-time Finals MVP and two-time NBA champion, and two-time Kia Defensive Player in Kawhi Leonard and perennial All-Star Paul George.

They had three chances to take down the Nuggets in this year’s Semis and they did not do it.

In their first two chances to clinch their first Conference Finals berth, the Clippers were outscored by the Nuggets in the second half of Games 5 and 6 131-84 combined. Were outshot 61 percent to 31 percent from the floor overall and 57 percent to 28 percent from three-point range.

The Clippers collapse was completed in Game 7 with a 104-89 loss on Sept. 15, where they were outscored 28-18 in the third quarter, getting outshot from three-point range to the tune of 6 for 9 in the period for the Nuggets to the 2 for 7 for the Clippers. The 89 points were a season-low (regular season and playoffs) for a Clippers squad that finished second in the league in points per game during the regular season at 116.1.

This was the 8^th career Game 7 loss in the postseason for Rivers, which is three more than any other coach in NBA postseason history.

The Clippers star acquisitions as mentioned from the summer of 2019 in Leonard and George did not have it on this night scoring 14 and 10 points on 6 for 22 and 4 for 15 shooting respectably, with George going a dismal 2 for 11 from three-point range. They also combined to register just 10 rebounds and eight assists, and seven turnovers.

It was especially brutal in the second half for Leonard and George, who combined for just five points on 2 for 18 shooting from the field.  The Clippers as a team registered just 33 points in the second half of Game 7 on 13 for 44 shooting (29.5 percent), which tied their all-time franchise low for a half of a playoff game. This was on the heels of scoring 32 points in the second quarter. That second half production also included a 15-point output in the fourth quarter on 6 for 22 shooting (27 percent).

The loss also marked the third straight game the Clippers built a double-digit lead on the Nuggets but could not close the deal falling to 0-8 all-time in games where they could punch their ticket to the Conference Finals.

In his postgame presser following the loss, Coach Rivers took responsibility.

“We didn’t meet them. That’s the bottom line,” he said during his postgame presser after the loss versus the Nuggets in Game 7 on Sept. 15. “I’m the coach and I’ll take any blame for it. But we didn’t meet our expectations clearly.”

Kia Sixth Man of the Year Finalists Lou Williams, who struggled to find any offensive consistency averaging just 12.8 points on 23.5 percent from three-point range in the 2020 Playoffs said in his postgame presser, “You know, we’re pissed off. It’s simple and plain. We’re pissed off. We’re up 3-1, had two opportunities to win this series, and we didn’t. We didn’t close it out. So, we’re pissed off. We look forward to the opportunity to get on the floor together.”

This marked the third time in Coach Rivers coaching career that his team blew a 3-1 series lead in a best-of-seven playoff series. Along with the two that happened as coach of the Clippers as mentioned in 2015 and earlier this month, it also occurred when he was head coach of the Orlando Magic in the First-Round of the 2003 postseason when his squad as the No. 8 Seed blew a 3-1 series lead against the No. 1 Seeded Detroit Pistons, and lost in seven games.

The departure of Coach Rivers means that there are six head coaching vacancies in the NBA in the Clippers, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Philadelphia 76ers, and New Orleans Pelicans. Three teams filled their head coaching vacancies in their off seasons with the New York Knicks signing former Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau; the Brooklyn Nets signing Hall of Famer Steve Nash; and the Chicago Bulls hiring former Thunder head coach Billy Donovan.

Rivers’ departure also means “The Association” number of African American head coaches currently employed is at four: Lloyd Pierce with the Atlanta Hawks, J.B. Bickerstaff with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Monty Williams with the Phoenix Suns and Dwane Casey with the Detroit Pistons. Rivers joined former Pacers head coach Nate McMillan and Alvin Gentry of the Pelicans as the third African American head coach that either stepped down or was fired this off season.

Among the coaches rumored to be the next head coach of the Clippers are Rivers former lieutenants Tyronn Lue, who already has an NBA title to his credit as a head coach when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and Sam Cassell. Lue, who won two titles as a player with the Lakers in 2000 and 2001 alongside Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and the late Kobe Bryant was also Doc’s assistant coach with the Celtics from 2011-2013. 

It is also rumored that current Lakers assistant coach in Hall of Famer and NBA champion Jason Kidd is in the running to be Rivers’ successor. 

Rivers has said long said that Cassell, who also won two titles with the Rockets back in 1994 and 1995 is ready to be an NBA head coach.

“I am immeasurably grateful to Doc for his commitment and contributions to the Clippers and the city of Los Angeles,” Ballmer said on Monday. “I am also extremely confident in our front office and our players. We will find the right coach to lead us forward and help us reach our ultimate goals. We will begin the search and interview process immediately.”

Whoever the Clippers chose as their next head coach, they will be coming into a great situation because that person will have two superstar players in Leonard and George to lead the team.

The question for the Clippers is will the surrounding cast from this past season still be around?

Three key players of their rotation this past season in Kia Sixth Man of the Year Award recipient Montrezl Harrell, Marcus Morris, Sr., and Reggie Jackson will be unrestricted free agents once the offseason begins.

The only pick they have in the upcoming draft is the No. 57 overall pick, and Leonard and George can opt out of their contracts in the offseason of 2021. On top of that, when the Clippers acquired George in the summer of 2019, they said goodbye to guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had a solid rookie season last year for the Clippers and five future First-Round picks.

What will really help the Clippers is being able to keep their roster healthy for an entire season.

If you count the regular season before the hiatus because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic, the league’s restart, and the playoffs, the Clippers had their full roster available for a game just 23 times this past season.

To put that into context, the Clippers when starting guard Patrick Beverly played, they were (including the postseason) 42-16 with him, in contrast to being 14-13 without him.

That lack of chemistry really showed in the back end of the Semis for the Clippers against the against the Nuggets, and it cost them in the end.

“Just got to build some chemistry,” Leonard said postgame after the series clinching loss against the Nuggets. “We got to be smarter…We were close, you know? Denver’s great. We shot ourselves in the foot the last three games.”

This was supposed to be a special season for the Los Angeles Clippers. The season where they finally reach the Conference Finals, possibly the NBA Finals to compete for their first title in franchise history. They were supposed to meet their so-called big brothers in the 16-time NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

Those dreams went up in smoke in their Game 7 loss to the Denver Nuggets earlier this month, which Hall of Famer and five-time NBA champion with the Lakers in the 1980s in Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson tweeted that night @MagicJohnson, “The Clippers chocked again. They chocked against the Rockets in 2015 and they chocked tonight against the Nuggets. “The @Lakers will always own Los Angeles. It will never change.”

Now with head coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers no longer leading them on the sidelines, the Clippers now must find a new head coach to lead them to what Chairman Steve Ballmer hopes is the promise land of an NBA title.

“It’s obvious pressure, you know, to live up to the title expectations. But as a player, you want that,” George said in his postgame presser after his ninth career playoff game of shooting 25 percent or worse in Game 7 against the Nuggets.  

“The fact of the matter is, we didn’t live up to that expectation,” he added. “But I think internally, we’ve always felt that this is not a championship or bust season for us. You know, we can only get better the longer we stay together, and the more we’re around each other. The more chemistry for this group, the better.”

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 7/3/2020 9 p.m. NBATV’s “Clippers Restart,” brought to you by Burger King with Matt Winer and Caron Butler; 8/20/2020 12 p.m. NBATV’s “Playoff Central Live,” with Kristen Ledlow and Jared Greenberg; 9/14/2020 1 a.m. edition of ESPN news crawl and “Sportscenter” with Kevin Connors and John Anderson; 9/15/2020 9 p.m. “Denver Nuggets versus Los Angeles Clippers,” Game 7 of Western Conference Semifinals on ESPN, presented by Wells Fargo with Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Rachel Nichols; 9/16/2020 3:30 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Matt Winer, Isiah Thomas, and Caron Butler; 9/28/2020 www.nba.com story, “Doc Rivers Out As L.A. Clippers Coach After 7 Seasons,” by Tim Reynolds of “The Associated Press;” https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/2799/lou-williams; https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/3964/patrick-beverly; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyronn_Lue; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Rivers.