Doc Rivers says Clippers players thought that season was ‘over’

The Los Angeles Clippers were presumably just one of two teams that voted not to advance to the playoffs during the meeting of emotional players on Wednesday night, which followed the dramatic tour by the Milwaukee Bucks in response to Jacob Blake’s police shooting. After the Clippers walked out of the meeting with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said his players thought the playoffs were done.

“They thought it was over,” Rivers said on Fox’s Prime Ticket, via ESPN. “It was just a very difficult day for everyone.”

Fortunately, it was not over. After a good night’s rest, players met again on Thursday morning and could agree that they should continue playing and concentrate on using their platform as much as they could. And Rivers says the Clippers, who are 3-2 over the Dallas Mavericks, are weird to go.

“Oh, they want to,” Rivers said when asked if his players are ready to restart the playoffs. “They’re really looking forward to it. Yesterday was a very difficult day though. Like their emotions were everywhere.”

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Does the bubble affect everyone’s emotions?

Rivers said listening to players express themselves at Wednesday night’s meeting was a wake-up call for him. Not just about what the players think and feel, but about the unique difficulty of being so isolated.

“You forget it’s hard in the bell,” Rivers said. “And even something came up. I knew it was hard, but listening to some of these guys talk, just mental awareness, we had to be a little bit sharper on that too.

“I do not think it’s a coincidence that everyone in this bubble just seems to be a little emotional and I’m not kidding. It’s true. I think part of the effect of every day when sitting together, it has that hand. effect on everyone. “

The bell could heighten everyone’s emotions, but perhaps that’s just what was needed to inspire the radical action that NBA players took Wednesday night.

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