Doc Rivers, like many, has thus far fallen short of propelling the Los Angeles Clippers to the top of the NBA. But he’s not in any mood to discuss abandoning his current project, either.
On Saturday night, Rivers made it clear that he still wants to continue coaching and has no designs on doing it anywhere besides Los Angeles.
“Clippers head coach Doc Rivers shot down a question about him possibly retiring from coaching and moving to the front office full time,” wrote Jovan Buha of ESPN. “Rivers said his goal in Los Angeles is ‘pride of place,’ and admitted he still has a ways to go to reach it.”
So why was Rivers even asked about this in the first place, you might ask?
Discussing Rivers, the Clippers and another NBA team, ESPN’s Marc Stein recently dropped this nugget: “There has been persistent chatter for weeks on the NBA’s front-office grapevine that the Orlando Magic and Rivers will explore a reunion down the road.”
Responding to that notion, in particular, Rivers made it clear he has “no future” in Orlando.
Doc Rivers says he has "no future" with Orlando Magic despite report he could be headed there
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) March 18, 2017
Now, as we all know, what is true one day in pro sport isn’t necessarily a definitive blueprint for all future dealings. That said, it sure sounds like Rivers is dead set on making it work in Los Angeles.
Heading down the stretch run, the Clippers are the No. 5 seed in the west with a record of 41-29. It’s not likely they’ll get far in the playoffs, given their recent cold stretch and horrible bad luck with injuries. Additionally, the future is very uncertain given the fact that both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are going to be free agents in a few months. We’ll be watching with interest to see what these developments mean for Rivers and Lob City.