We have another edition of ‘takes that didn’t age well’ and this time it involves former Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers. Back in December of 2019, when everybody was criticizing the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard for their load management program, Rivers didn’t hold anything and took a jab at Los Angeles Lakers and their star, LeBron James.
LeBron made some comments about that whole thing, explaining he wouldn’t miss a game unless he had no more remedy.
“Unless we’re getting to late in the season, we’ve clinched and we’ve can’t get any better or any worse,” James said. “…Why wouldn’t I play if I’m healthy?” James asked rhetorically. “It doesn’t make any sense to me, personally. I mean, I don’t know how many games I’ve left in my career. I don’t know how many kids that may show up to a game that are there to see me play.”
That sparked something inside Rivers, who fired back at LeBron and the Lakers for criticizing the Clippers’ philosophy.
“It’s our philosophy… I think theirs is whatever LeBron says it is… I like what we’re doing. I think it’s the smart thing to do. Who knows? We’ll see at the end.”
Doc Rivers on LeBron James’ take on load management pic.twitter.com/P7qdWqEQW6
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) December 18, 2019
Almost a year after that statement, we know that the Clippers philosophy didn’t work and the Lakers won it all this season doing what LeBron told them to do. The Lakers assembled a good team to face the bubble and in the end, they had no rival. The Clips were expected to be that obstacle between the Lakers and the title but they collapsed in the second round of the playoffs, blowing a 3-1 lead against the Denver Nuggets.
Now Rivers is out of the team while LeBron is celebrating his championship.
