Doc Rivers is a friend of Masai Ujiri.
The Los Angeles Clippers coach spoke Thursday about the video showing Alameda County Deputy Sheriff Alan Strickland filing an altercation with the Toronto Raptors president as he tried to marry his team in celebration of the NBA Championship from last season.
Rivers says there is more to the video that has been widely published. He has seen it. And it makes him “really sad.”
What happened to Ujiri
In case you missed it, bodycam video and footage from the stands this week released clear that Strickland is embarking on a physical change with Ujiri as he walks to court after Toronto’s Game 6 NBA Finals victory over the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena last season.
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office initially filed a complaint against Ujiri for battery against a police officer and portrayed Ujiri as the aggressor in the incident.
“We were told to strictly enforce the reference policy and not allow anyone in court without a reference, so our deputies did that,” Sgt. Ray Kelly told reporters in June last year. “Our deputy contacted Mr Masai Ujiri when he tried to enter the court. He had not displayed any references, and our deputy asked for his references.
“Mr. Ujiri did not produce them and shoved our replacement out of the way to gain access to the court. At that point, our substitute tried to stop him and pushed him backwards and then Mr Ujiri came back with a second shove, a more important push that hit his arm with his forward moment with our substitute. ‘
Prosecutors eventually refused to prosecute, and the video released this week demonstrates why. Strickland grabbed Ujiri hard and shook unprovoked as Ujiri tried to show him his references.
Doc Rivers says his friend Masai Ujiri showed him “very hurt” recordings of his incident with a deputy sheriff. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
Strickland has been suing since Ujiri, claiming “great mental, physical, emotional and psychological pain and suffering.”
Rivers: There are more ‘very hurtful’ recordings
On Thursday, Rivers told reporters he has seen more images than what has been publicly released.
Doc Rivers on the film of the exchange between Masai Ujiri and a replacement for the San Francisco area sheriff after the NBA Finals’ climbing game last year: “It was actually very painful to watch that video.” pic.twitter.com/LXkMV8aLTV
– Mirjam Swanson (@MirjamSwanson) 21 August 2020
“He shared the video with me,” Rivers said of Ujiri. ‘It was sad to see. It’s actually very painful to watch that video. One man is that the highlight of his career at that moment was on the floor to celebrate with his team – they just won the NBA Championship. And he had to be reminded again what his color was. And it’s just so sad.
‘If you watch the whole video, which I do not think many people have seen yet – the cop was nice, nice, nice, and then here comes this black man with a suit. It’s just sad. ”
Ujiri confronted Strickland this week following the release of the video.
