End of an Era (What is Next for the L.A. Clippers?)
Written by Keegan Singh
During the “Lob City” era with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, JJ Reddick, and Deandre Jordan, the Clippers consistently showed that they were one of the best teams during the regular season, but when it came time for the playoffs, the team would always fall short. A roster with so much potential, including the stars mentioned above, and the likes of Jamal Crawford, Luc Mbah Moute, Jeff Green, and more off the bench never made it to a Western Conference Finals. The closest they came was during the 2014-15 season where they blew a 3-1 lead against the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Semifinals. The “Lob City” era lasted for two more seasons after that heart-breaking moment and was then broken up due to the trade of Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets in 2017.
Doc Rivers with the Clippers “Lob City” Team (Photo: Essentially Sports)
In the offseason of 2017, the Clippers lost Chris Paul due to a trade and JJ Reddick through free agency. In return, the Clippers acquired Lou Williams, Patrick Beverly, Montrezl Harrel, Sam Dekker, and a few draft picks. After this trade occurred, it felt like the Clippers would never have an opportunity to win a title again. The remaining pieces from the “Lob City” era continued to dwindle away after the exits of Chris Paul and JJ Reddick as Deandre Jordan left as a free agent in the 2018 offseason and Blake Griffin was traded away in January of the 2018 season to the Detroit Pistons after signing a max-contract the offseason of that very same year. The only remaining piece of the “Lob City” era after all those exits was head coach Doc Rivers.
During all those heart-breaking moments in the playoffs, many fans were quick to blame the players and their inability to close out games. There were very few that ever put any blame on Doc Rivers. Throughout his time with the Clippers, Doc was consistently considered one of the top coaches in the league because of how his team would perform during the regular season. Even when the team was decimated and left with no all-star caliber players, Rivers was still able to lead the team to the playoffs in the 2018-19 season. Doc Rivers has always been known as a “players-coach” throughout his coaching career and has gained a lot of respect from former players because of that. On top of all those attributes, he coached the Boston Celtics team in 2008 to a championship over the Los Angeles Lakers. For all those reasons, many were surprised when the Clippers decided to move on from Doc Rivers after the 2019-2020 season.
Public opinions on Doc Rivers began to change during this past season, especially during the playoffs. During this past offseason, the Clippers acquired two of the biggest stars across the entire league in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The acquisition of these two players, along with a roster of good role players, quickly made this Clipper’s team Championship favorites headed into the season. The team played well enough during the regular season to finish as the second seed in the Western Conference, despite having a plethora of injuries to key players throughout the season. The expectations were extremely high for the Clippers going into the playoffs by both the fans and the media. However, it was in the NBA Playoff bubble where the downfall began for this team and the coaching staff.
Despite winning the first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks 4-2, it became clear to Clipper fans that Doc Rivers was not making the necessary adjustments needed to win a championship. During the first-round series, the Mavericks were scoring too easily as the Clippers were not able to stop Dallas star Luka Doncic from scoring and assisting on a consistent basis. Some of the lineups that Doc Rivers was putting out on the floor during that series were questionable and if it wasn’t for Dallas star Kristpas Porzingis getting injured and having to miss the majority of that series, the Clippers could have been in some trouble. In the first series against the Mavericks, the Clippers did not capitalize on double-digit leads going into halftime multiple times, which the fans knew was going to be an issue if it continued throughout the playoffs.
The Clippers lost in the second-round of the playoffs after having a 3-1 lead. (Kim Klement/Pool Photo via AP)
In the second-round series against the Denver Nuggets, the Clippers had a comfortable 3-1 lead after four games and had three games to get just one win and close out the series. In the games to follow, the Clippers had multiple double-digit leads going into halftime and were once again unable to close out and win any of the games. Doc Rivers made no adjustments in any of the games, allowing the Nuggets to become comfortable and score freely. In addition to that, the Clippers would become complacent. Going into the second half of the games that the Clippers held a double-digit lead, they looked like a completely different team. The Clippers went from scoring 50% from the field in some games during the first half to less than 40% in the second half. The reason for this is because the opposition head coach would make adjustments defensively to make scoring more difficult for the Clippers, while Doc Rivers would make none and would solely rely on individual brilliance to score. The Clippers ultimately lost the series 4-3 and blew the 3-1 lead that they once held.
The performance of the Clippers throughout the playoffs was poor in each series and they never played like they were a team that was once considered championship favorites. Player performances were highlighted because of the Clippers collapse, but ultimately it came down to coaching. No adjustments were made either defensively or offensively and the Clippers became too predictable and were outplayed by the opposition that was deemed inferior.
The front office of the Clippers must have also felt that the coaching in the playoffs was below par because on September 28th, 2020, Doc Rivers was relieved of his duties as Head Coach of the Clippers, officially ending the era of “Lob City.” Doc River is an extremely good person and a good coach in the regular season, but it is no coincidence that every disappointing playoff exit was under the control of Rivers. Throughout his 8 years as Clipper’s head coach, the team was never able to get to a Western Conference Final despite them having some great players in those years. It was time for the Doc River reign to come to an end. Many fans should be extremely excited about the future of the team, as they still boast a top roster in the West. The Clippers job will be attractive to any coach in the league, whether currently employed or not. The current favorites to take over the reins are former Cavaliers Championship head coach, Tyronn Lue, former Rockets and current USA Team Head Coach Jeff Van Gundy, and also current Clippers assistant coach Sam Cassell. I would personally love if Tyronn Lue is the chosen coach because of his work with the Cavaliers during all of those Championship runs. Another option who is not being mentioned that I would love to see considered is former Indiana Pacer Head Coach, Nate Mcmillan, as I feel his personality and defensive coaching style would fit this roster perfectly. Whatever happens, it is an exciting time for Clipper’s fans to see who is selected to take over the reins from Doc Rivers and hopefully, next season will be more successful.
Follow Keegan on Twitter @keegns