‘We went through a lot’: Doc Rivers releases statement on being fired by Clippers after failed playoff run

Longtime NBA head coach in charge of the Los Angeles Clippers over the last 7 years Doc Rivers has parted ways with the franchise with mutual consent.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the 2008 NBA Champion with the Boston Celtics has finished out his tenure with the less fancied LA club. T

he Clippers were eliminated in the 2nd round of the playoffs against the Denver Nuggets despite holding a 3-1 lead over them. It was understandable that heads were meant to roll after such a capitulation from a position of an advantage.

‘We went through a lot’: Doc Rivers on being fired by Clippers

There were rumours for much of this intervening 2 week period since the Clippers’ exit from the playoffs about how secure Rivers’ job was.

Reports of him playing locker room favourites and giving extended runs to certain players over other, more deserving ones did not help his case at all. Nevertheless, Rivers’ time at Los Angeles can be viewed as a net positive.

In the statement released by Doc, the former Clippers coach looked back at his time with the team and was thankful to everyone who made his journey possible.

He admitted to the fact that the ‘team went through’ a lot and it seems like some locker room secrets will be out in the open in the days to come.

Also Read: ‘Doc Rivers made strategic blunders’: Clippers players bewildered by tactics vs Nikola Jokic and Nuggets

Rivers was initially in the capacity of a GM-cum-head coach. That changed in the 2017-18 season, when Jerry West was brought in as a front office executive and consultant.

The lowered responsibilities allowed Rivers to concentrate on his Xs and Os as a coach better, and he was able to lead the Clippers to 2 credible seasons with no All Stars on his roster.

It was Rivers’ presence that made the Clippers a free agent-friendly organization. Landing Paul George and Kawhi Leonard can partly be attributed to his association with the team.

There is little denying that what Doc has said in his parting words is true – he did achieve most of his goals with the organization except winning a championship.