LOS ANGELES — Doc Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers got center Ivica Zubac back on Monday night, but will be without guard Lou Williams for about a week as he goes through the 10-day quarantine protocol issued by the NBA. Ahead of Monday night's scrimmage game against the Sacramento Kings, Williams' name was trending again after he and Kendrick Perkins got into a back-and-forth on Twitter.
Montrezl Harrell, Patrick Beverley, Sindarius Thornwell, and Jerome Robinson, all current or recent teammates of Lou Williams, came to his defense on social media.
Rivers addressed the NBA's decision to require a 10-day quarantine for Williams instead of the four-day minimum after Monday's game.
“I don't know if it's fair or not,” Rivers said. “I just know intent. Lou obviously made a mistake, but it wasn't intended to make a mistake and so we get over things pretty quickly. We know why we're here, Lou knows why we're here, and so we move on.”
Based off the optics alone in the last few days, fans and media members called for an extended quarantine period as a form of punishment for Lou. That didn't up being the case for the 15-year veteran, who will now miss the Clippers' first two scrimmage games against the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans before he's cleared to return.
“I didn't look at it as a suspension or anything like that,” Rivers added. “I just looked at it as they know he was in public, and so that's the protocol. That's about it.”
Perkins continued his criticism of Williams throughout the day, telling Harrell, “I said what I said.”
Zubac, who made his bubble debut on Monday, defended Williams from criticism after the game as well.
“I played with Lou in my rookie year with the Lakers,” Zubac said. “I've been here with Lou for a while now, and Lou was my vet. He's been a great guy. Everywhere I've played with him, he's one of the most liked guys in the whole organization. He's always trying to get everyone together on the road.
“Lou is a true leader, and the fact that all the players are coming to the defense of him, that speaks everything about him.”
Over the last couple of months, Perkins has made a list of enemies that includes Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Wilson Chandler, while just now adding Williams, Harrell, Beverley, and Zubac to that list. Clippers forward Marcus Morris also recently called out Perkins in Twitter.
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The fifth-year center out of Croatia made his return to the court against the Kings, finishing with two points and six rebounds in 13 minutes of action. His lone basket came when he and Paul George connected on a nice pick-and-roll that resulted in an easy dunk:
Ivica Zubac’s first bucket comes off the pick and roll with Paul George. #Clippers pic.twitter.com/PRNriD6hJP
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) July 27, 2020
“I felt good out there,” Zubac said on his first action in over four months. “I could feel I was a little out of shape. I'm a little winded. There's some room to get in better shape, better conditioning. I'll be working out every day trying to get into that game shape that they need me to. Every day I'm going to get better and better. I think it's not going to take long, probably a few days. It's hard to say like this, but I'm finally here, and I'll get to practice and work out every day, so I think I'll be good in a few days.”
Doc Rivers revealed that while they were away from the team recovering from the coronavirus, both Zubac and Landry Shamet were tuning into Clippers practice in Orlando via live Zoom call. That allowed both players to stay up to date on all the things the team was doing from afar.
“It's been tough when you've got all of your teammates and everyone on the other side of the country working out, trying to get better, trying to get in shape. I was stuck at home, and I was working out, but you know, you can't get much work. You know, they were always sending us links for the practice, so we were able to watch the practices every time. We tried to get the plays down. It helped out a little bit.”
The Clippers will practice on Tuesday and Wednesday before facing the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, which will be opening night of the NBA's restart. Doc Rivers says he believes Landry Shamet will be available to play, while Patrick Beverley is considered a “maybe.” As of Tuesday morning, it appears that Montrezl Harrell will not clear NBA protocol in time to play Thursday, and Lou Williams still has a few more days before he's cleared to return as well.
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