For the past few years the Los Angeles Clippers have been a playoff team, but the expectation level for them increased last summer when Doc Rivers was brought in to be the Clippers head coach. Rivers enjoyed a 13-year playing career in the NBA that saw him play briefly for the Clippers in the early 1990’s. As a head coach in the NBA, Rivers led the Boston Celtics to an NBA Championship in 2008. During his nine seasons with the Celtics, Rivers led Boston to the NBA Playoffs on seven occasions, but more importantly he changed the culture there. Rivers is currently doing the same thing in Los Angeles with the Clippers. Without Rivers the Clippers are a playoff team, but with him they have their eyes set on their first NBA Championship in franchise history.
This season the Clippers won 57 games in the regular season which was a franchise best. The Clippers won their second consecutive Pacific Division Title as they are ready to take Hollywood by storm. Rivers is a leader and a motivator which you can see as it is illustrated with the current Clippers roster.
Clippers center DeAndre Jordan is a prime candidate to win the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award this season as he led the league in rebounds per game with 13.6. Rivers entrusted Jordan to be a factor on the court this season and thus his minutes increased by 10.5 per game from last season. Clippers power forward Blake Griffin averaged a career-high in points this season with 24.1 while he has begun the shed his image of just being a dunker. For the third time in his NBA career, but for the first time since the 2008-2009 season Clippers point guard Chris Paul led the league in assists with 10.7 per contest. The stats for Jordan, Griffin, Paul, and the rest of their Clipper teammates have increased, but so has their resiliency and mental toughness under Rivers.
The Clippers began the NBA Playoffs last month against their Pacific Division rivals in the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors and Clippers do not like each other which has been exuded all season long which made for an epic showdown in the playoffs. On April 24, the Clippers defeated the Warriors 98-96 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. But that is when things began to unravel for the Clippers.
On April 25, TMZ.com released audio of Clippers owner Donald Sterling making racist comments about black people. The Clipper players along with Rivers were forced to unnecessarily field questions about this unfortunate matter instead of focusing on Game 4 against the Warriors. Prior to Game 4, the Clipper players displayed solidarity by turning their warm-up tops inside out as to not display anything referring to the Clippers with the exception of their uniform. The Clippers were run out of the Oracle Arena by the Warriors in Game 4 as they lost 118-97. By Monday April 28, NBA commissioner Adam Silver had taken away controlling interest of the Clippers from Sterling while banning him for life from ownership in the NBA.
Once the Sterling controversy became public the Clippers organization needed a leader and they have found one in Rivers.
When Sterling’s comments were made public, Rivers got his team together in the attempt to keep their focus on the Warriors. It failed in Game 4, but following that loss Rivers gave his team a day off which is highly unusual during the playoffs, but it needed to be done.
The Clippers returned to the Staples Center in Los Angeles for Game 5 and at this point a weight was lifted off of them once Silver handed down his edict. The Clippers still did not know what to expect from their fan base who supported them to the fullest. The Clippers would go on to defeat the Warriors 113-103 that evening while defeating their rivals in seven games. The Clippers would follow this up by going on the road this past Monday night and dominating the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-105 to begin the second round of the NBA Playoffs while also stealing home-court advantage.
What Rivers has brought to this team is mental toughness. Two years ago if the situation with Sterling went down the Clippers would have folded up shop. But this season they found a way to overcome that. Each time that the Warriors hit the Clippers with a power punch, they were able to counter punch them in order to get the decision. Now the Clippers have asserted themselves in their series with the Thunder who they have put in chase mode.
Prior to winning a championship with the Celtics, Rivers had coached the team for three seasons. But in the summer of 2007 things changed when the Celtics acquired shooting guard Ray Allen and power forward Kevin Garnett. The Celtics were expected to win an NBA Championship, but Rivers was able to get Allen, Garnett, and small forward Paul Pierce to check their egos at the door for the good of the team. The Clippers currently have one of the deepest and most talented teams in the NBA and Rivers has everyone buying in to what he is selling.
In the wake of the Sterling scandal the Clipper players looked to Rivers for leadership and the received it. When the Clippers are in the huddle you can tell that Rivers is the boss as all eyes are on him. Paul has always been a good point guard throughout his NBA career, but Rivers has turned him into a great point guard who can score and more importantly he trust his teammates. For the playoffs Paul is averaging 19.3 points per game along with 9.1 assists while five Clipper players are currently averaging double figures in points.
Like a moth to flame players flock to play for Rivers because he has the ability to get them to the NBA’s promised land which is a championship. As a player and as a head coach in the NBA, Rivers has seen the best and worst of times which he has been able to pass on to the Clippers. Being a head coach is all about motivating and maximizing the ability of your players which is something that Rivers is succeeding at.
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