Doc Rivers says he wouldn’t be coaching Clippers if Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan were still there

Following the acquisition of All-Star point guard Chris Paul, the L.A. Clippers saw things shift in high gear with them being a constant in the playoff picture.
However, things began to shift south internally with the team having to deal with their core group that became a consistent issue.

This had ultimately led to the team coming to terms with moving on from eventually all three of their core players in Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan. According to Dan Woike of the LA Times, head coach Doc Rivers voiced that he wouldn’t have lasted in his position had the team remained the same.

But if it hadn’t been, if the Lob City Clippers were that dysfunctional couple that refused to divorce, Rivers knows he couldn’t have handled it.

“I needed the change. I wouldn’t have done this with the same group. I wouldn’t be here probably,” Rivers said. “We just needed change. We needed it and we just had to do it. We had to come to the conclusion we weren’t going to win.”

It had become a toxic situation that saw the tension behind the scenes begin to override the team’s success on the court. On top of that, it appeared that the Clippers had missed their window where they could compete for an NBA title.

This was a mixture of different factors that made it too much for the team to stick together. The decision to head in this direction has also given Rivers a fresh new opportunity to be a part of the reconstructed roster that could compete for a playoff spot this season.

It was simply a chapter in Rivers’ coaching career that had an expiration date.