Photo Credit: Michael Nelson/EPA
The Los Angeles Clippers Reportedly Fired Doc Rivers Partly Because Of Michael Porter Jr.
On Monday, the Los Angeles Clippers drew the conclusion from their disappointing season and fired long-time head coach Doc Rivers.
Rivers had been coaching the Clippers since 2013 and compiled a 356-208 overall record, the fifth-best record in the NBA.
But while most expected the Rivers’ firing to be in direct correlation to the team’s disappointing playoffs exit, there are reports that the straw to break the camel’s back was Rivers passing on Michael Porter Jr. in the 2018 NBA Draft, after having had the opportunity to draft him twice, with the 12th and 13th picks that year.
That’s what The Ringer’s Ryen Russillo reported on his podcast:
“If you look at the Clippers in the year Michael Porter Jr. was in the draft…They had two shots at it and then Michael Porter Jr. of all people is on the Nuggets getting buckets. We know he’s not a perfect player, but there’s a chance he could be really good. And so Ballmer’s thinking ‘I’m paying all of this money to all of these people, and we blow a 3-1 lead and we’re blowing leads in it…and then you’re thinking what happened with Michael Porter Jr. again?’”
If this indeed was the case, I think it isn’t the best judgement by Ballmer. Everyone knew Porter’s talent was incredible, but the Clippers’ staff, and everyone else drafting before them, passed on him for medical reasons. The kid had a broken back, and the continuation of his entire career was in jeopardy.
