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CHICAGO – The credentials were strong and brilliant.
Most games coached in franchise history at 564. Most wins at 356 and highest win rate at 63.1 percent.
In the end, those garish numbers couldn’t save Doc Rivers from losing his comfortable, high-paying job with the Los Angeles Clippers, whose embarrassing exit from the playoffs made them the fresh face of underperformance in professional sports.
The official press release lovingly described the parting as “mutual,” but according to Los Angeles Times Rivers was “surprised” with the move.
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I too would be surprised if it were Rivers.
I mean, who wants to quit a job that pays at least $ 5 million a year calling plays for a team that will soon have its own new stadium in a city bathed in eternal sunshine and filled with Hollywood stars?
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But some good things never last.
And Rivers’ 27-32 record in the playoffs gave his employers the scissors they used to cut ties when doomsday arrived.
Losing a 3-1 series lead to Houston in 2015 was easy to swallow given how injuries plagued the team that season.
But losing a 3-1 lead to a young and relatively inexperienced Denver Nuggets while squandering leads of 16, 19 and 12 in Games 5, 6 and 7, respectively, was inexcusable.
Apparently it was more than team owner Steve Ballmer could bear.
I’m generally a supporter of work when it comes to issues related to firing, mutual separation, or whatever semantics those rigid PRs use to lather up their statements. But the direction this once rosy relationship has taken is in Doc.
The Clippers did everything they could to put the team in position to win a championship.
They mortgaged their future by handing over five future first-round picks to acquire Paul George of Oklahoma.
They convinced Kawhi Leonard to leave the Raptors and paid him $ 103 million for three years to return to California.
And they kept their other valuable assets to make sure Leonard and PG were surrounded by the right pieces, a move that kept that team’s roster in the fourth-highest in the NBA at $ 133.8 million.
Everything was in place and all Rivers had to do was lead the dreamy-eyed Clippers to the championship parade. Instead, he let a Denver accident spoil Ballmer’s best plans.
And the fact that the city’s hated rivals the Lakers are making another title run only adds layers of sadness, anger and pain to the debacle.
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Rivers has two years left on his current contract. Terms of that deal have not been disclosed, but Rivers is among the highest paid coaches in the NBA who once made $ 7 million per season with the Boston Celtics.
Since all coaches contracts are guaranteed, Ballmer, which is worth $ 22.3 billion according to Forbes, he’ll have to eat Rivers’s fat severance check.
Money can not buy happiness.
But it sure can buy a new voice, a new direction.
