The Los Angeles Clippers may be three games under .500 and will be without star power forward Blake Griffin for a while, but head coach Doc Rivers is not interested in any rebuild talk.
More than that, he has absolutely no interest in listening to what you “Internet people” have to say out there.
Doc Rivers on people on the internet pushing for the Clippers to rebuild now: "The day I start answering the internet people is the day I’m an internet person. That’s not going to happen. I don’t listen to all that stuff. We’re going to do what’s best for the franchise."
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) November 29, 2017
That’s a “get off my lawn” moment if we’ve ever seen one. Maybe someone should provide Rivers with a GIF of Clint Eastwood for good measure.
In any event, maybe the “Internet people” are right here. Prior to a recent three-game winning streak, Los Angeles had lost nine consecutive games. At that point, rumors floated about that Rivers himself was on the hot seat.
Now at 8-11 and near the quarter-point of the season, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that the Clippers won’t be competing for a conference title. Heck, the playoffs might be out of the equation moving forward. Griffin’s sprained MCL only adds to this thought process.
The only issue here is that the Clippers don’t really have a lot to work with when it comes to starting a rebuild. The team lacks that young talent to rebrand itself. And it just inked Griffin to a huge long-term deal.
This is what happens when a squad goes all to contend for four consecutive seasons, only to fail to make the conference finals each time.
Just don’t expect Doc to listen to what is usually a well-reasoned Internet world. Insert sarcasm font here.