As the trade deadline neared closer this season, many speculated that Blake Griffin could be dealt from Los Angeles. After he broke his hand by punching a Clippers equipment manager, those on the outside expected Griffin to be phased out. Not so, according to team president and head coach, Doc Rivers.
After falling to the Portland Trail Blazers in round one of the playoffs, Rivers said he had no plans of trading his big three of Griffin, Chris Paul, and DeAndre Jordan. The Clippers leader recently sat down with ESPN's Zach Lowe to discuss that fact and reflect on the season.
He especially put to rest the idea that Griffin's incident estranged him from the rest of the roster. When asked specifically if he was worried the other players were “resentful of Blake” after it happened, Rivers replied succinctly:
“No. You always worry about that at first, but in that one, I wasn't. No.”
With that in mind, he reiterated how important it is to keep the Clippers core together:
“I'm always gonna do what's good for the team. You don't ever do anything but that. But I feel like the best thing for the team right now is to keep them together.”
Despite the vote of confidence in his big three, Rivers did note that things can change:
“Can that change? Of course it can change. But I don't think it will.”
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