The reactions to the Los Angeles Clippers agreeing to a trade of Chris Paul are only beginning.
As we noted, head coach Doc Rivers opened up yesterday about the ordeal, citing CP3’s desire to play with James Harden as one of the biggest reasons the team couldn’t keep Paul on board.
Friday morning, Doc had more to say on the matter, even admitting the lack of success with Paul bothers him, per ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne:
“That part is over. And that bugs me,” Rivers said in an interview with ESPN. “But we’re not done trying to reach our goal. Sometimes you gotta do it a different way. Because the way we tried to do it didn’t work.”
It should bug Rivers—failing to make noise in the playoffs year after year despite the presence of a top-five point guard is a tough pill to swallow. Making it worse is his departure, which could also mean Blake Griffin leaves town as a free agent.
Rivers’ theme of starting over again differently continued:
“When we look back, the last four years, other than the teams that won the title, we’ve been as successful,” he said. “But this franchise, because of its own history, we don’t get the benefit of the doubt. We have not gotten to the promised land. And that’s the disappointing part with this group. But now we’re gonna write our own new chapter and we’re gonna try to do it again.”
Some have wondered if Rivers will stick around without Paul and Griffin. For now, it sounds like he’s walking a fine line between reflection and hoping toward the future.
Alas, things like this can change in a hurry. But Rivers’ admission about the disappointment of never winning it all rings true.
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