LA Clippers: A change needed to be made and Doc Rivers took the fall

Doc Rivers took the fall for the LA Clippers; was it the right move?

When the LA Clippers went up 3-1 on the Denver Nuggets of the Western Conference Semifinals, it felt like we were headed towards the series that many were looking forward to all season long – the battle for Los Angeles (and the Western Conference title) between the Lakers and Clippers.

Unfortunately, it’s a series that we never got to see as the Clippers would go on to blow that 3-1 series lead in the conference semifinals. A season that began with so much promise, after signing Kawhi Leonard (via free agency) and acquiring Paul George (via trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder), ended with disappointment.

Entering the season and playoffs (in the NBA’s restart), the Clippers were viewed as a favorite to not only win the Western Conference but win the NBA title as a whole. Not only did the Clippers have two of the top players in the league, but also one of the league’s deepest teams.

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On top of that, many believed that they also had the right leader in place. Doc Rivers, who had been with the organization for the last seven seasons had made the playoffs in five of the last six seasons and won an NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008.

Rivers had the championship pedigree that contending teams look for and the experience that many players around the league covet in their head coach. It seemed like an ideal fit. The Clippers were supposed to break through in the West this season and many expected them to win the NBA Championship, or at the very least make it to the conference finals.

That, unfortunately, didn’t happen. And because the season didn’t play out as many in the organization expected it to, change needed to come. The Clippers’ brass didn’t believe that after blowing a 3-1 series lead in the conference semifinals they could simply run the exact – or similar – team back with Doc Rivers.

It’s fine. It’s often what happens. And is magnified even more so when the clock is ticking and the team only has one more guaranteed year with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard on the roster. Clippers management believed that they had to be proactive and make at least one big change to the team after such a disappointing performance in the playoffs.

That change – parting ways with head coach Doc Rivers.

It was spun as a mutual decision, but I don’t think anyone is naive here. Doc took the fall for a team that simply underperformed in the playoffs. And maybe you believe that’s his fall to take. After all, he was the head coach. He’s the man with the job tasked with unleashing the potential of his players.

It’s perfectly OK to believe that a team led by Kawhi and PG (and as deep as the Clippers were this past season) should be able to beat a team led by Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic (no offense to the Nuggets). Even more so considering you would give the Clippers a 3-1 series lead.

Generally in the NBA, when success or failures can’t be explained (especially in the playoffs), the head coach is where many point to. It’s why many are praising the Miami Heat’s head coach Erik Spoelstra. You can’t really explain what the Heat have done in the playoffs, therefore it must be the head coach.

Whether that’s the correct way to do that type of math in sports remains to be seen. Maybe it is the head coaches, but that doesn’t mean Doc Rivers shouldn’t get another shot with this team.

The LA Clippers disappointed in the playoffs, there’s no question about it. Was moving on from Doc Rivers the right move? I don’t think that can be answered right now, and may not be for a while. Doc is a talented coach with connections all over the league. He’ll land on his feet sooner rather than later. He took the fall for the Clippers’ disappointment in the playoffs. We’ll see if it was warranted and if was the right move next season.