Doc Rivers-led teams have self-destructed in spectacular fashion in the playoffs over the years, and the 2019-20 Los Angeles Clippers were one of them. The Clippers blew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals, and Rivers recently told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears that he knew the team had quit in the Bubble.
“No, in the Bubble, I had a group of guys that didn’t want to be there,” Rivers said. “[Ex-Clippers guard] Lou Williams said [on a podcast in 2023], ‘Look, we were trying to leave. We made the decision that we didn’t want to be there.’ So, I felt that. I knew that. The greatest part about coaches is we keep things in a vault. I could see that.
“And what bugs me about the Bubble is I couldn’t get them to understand that we had a chance to win [a title],” Rivers continued. “That’s what bugs me. They wanted to go home more than they wanted to win. And I still don’t understand that. I’m too competitive. And I really thought that team had enough.”
Some players from that Clippers team have indeed stated that they wanted to get out of the Bubble. They just did not want to be in there anymore. Here are the comments made by Lou Williams that Rivers was referring to.
“I think we win the championship if COVID doesn’t happen… I think I was in the bubble 97 days…[by] day 67, I was like ‘let’s get the F*** out of here.’ So, I think mentally, we wasn’t in it for the long game,” Williams said. “We didn’t really see – we didn’t really see the pot of gold at the end of it. We were starting to hear the rumblings like, ‘Nobody’s going to respect this chip’ and all of that. So, I think we kind of just took our foot off the gas.”
That’s a terrible attitude to have. Who cares if some people don’t respect the ring? You’ll still go down as NBA champions and no one would have been able to take that away from you at the end of the day. This was either the worst excuse ever or the Clippers indeed didn’t see the pot of gold at the end.
You do have some sympathy for Rivers if this were really the case. Sure, it is his job as head coach to ensure that all the players are locked in no matter what, but what could he have done if they all just wanted to go home as soon as possible?
Whatever the case may be, those Clippers blew a golden chance to win the title. They had finished second in the West in 2019-20 with a 49-23 record and were one of the favorites to win it all. A titanic clash with the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers seemed inevitable, but they fell apart after taking a 3-1 lead against the Nuggets.
The Clippers led by double digits in Games 5, 6, and 7 against the Nuggets but proceeded to lose in embarrassing fashion on each occasion. Despite the brutal nature of that exit, you thought this team would have plenty more opportunities to win a title, with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George leading the way.
It wasn’t to be, though, as the Clippers never made the NBA Finals with Leonard and George. An era that promised much ended up being a total disappointment.
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