“They were angry. They wanted to DO something.” (c) Doc Rivers on the Clippers player’s reaction.
The Donald Sterling controversy for the Clippers will not be over until he is removed as owner of the franchise. The burden and pressure on the team was off their back when Adam Silver handed down the NBA verdict and when they moved on to the second round of the playoffs on Saturday night, defeating the Golden State Warriors 126-121.
Now that they can get back to basketball (for the moment), coach Doc Rivers sat down to talk to Mike Wilbon for ESPN’s “Sunday Conversation.” During their interview, Rivers talked about how much a distraction it was for the players during the days following the tapes, how his upbringing helped motivate the Clippers in terms of his advice to the team and why Sports doesn’t see, but rather skill level.
He hopes Oprah and Magic Johnson end up owning the team soon too.
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Interestingly, Doc recalls a moment being a kid growing up in the 1960’s during the race riots and civil rights movement, watching people in the street go at each other and wondering why they were fighting in the first place.
A lesson that his father taught him until the day he died was, to never be a victim and he believes firmly that something good always comes from something bad. This philosophy really helped him through this storm and it’s something he passed down to his team. It showed too, because the Clippers ended up winning the series.
