Prior to the hotly-contested matchup between the L.A. Clippers and Houston Rockets on Monday, Doc Rivers was asked during the pre-game presser to give his thoughts on the team’s breakup with Chris Paul during in the offseason.
Rivers was asked to share if he feels it could have gone better or worse, especially with the star point guard asking the Clippers front office to have him traded.
The veteran head coach made it known that whenever a player of Paul’s caliber leaves, the team that acquires him will be very excited and happy with the situation. He then added, via ClutchPoints’ own Tomer Azarly, that he believes the Clippers and Paul handled the situation “pretty well.”
“…the team that’s receiving is probably happy with that, but I think overall, it was handled pretty well.”
I just realized this video I tried to post before the game yesterday never posted, so here is Doc Rivers on the #Clippers‘ breakup with Chris Paul and if it could’ve gone any better.
Safe to say the answer now would probably be ‘better.’ #Rockets pic.twitter.com/uzFj84DAFw— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 17, 2018
As it turned out on the night though, the players showed that there was no love lost between them. That includes former teammates Paul and Blake Griffin who were involved in a heated exchange in the fourth quarter.
When the game was over, Trevor Ariza then went to the Clippers’ locker room to confront Austin Rivers, and the former had to be restrained by some teammates and LAPD to avoid the situation from escalating further.
For now, it’s safe to say that it could have been better for both parties, but it also makes Paul’s future games against the Clippers even more interesting to watch. A rivalry may also be brewing, which makes the two remaining regular-season matchups between them a must-watch, especially with how fired up the players will be by then.
The post Doc Rivers thinks Clippers’ breakup with Chris Paul could’ve gone better appeared first on ClutchPoints.
