Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers says the 2019-20 Clippers have “a different energy” than the Lob City group which was led by Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
Rivers joined that Lob City group, while he helped create this new Clippers team led by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
“It's a different energy,” Rivers said, via Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. “[In 2013], I joined a group. And that group had — had some success and also some baggage.
“This group is new. This is our creation. I feel like that college coach, when you first get the job and you take all the recruits that are there and try to win with them. And then you get your recruits. That's how I feel. This is our team. … And we feel really good about it.”
The Lob City era had a lot of highlights, but that team always came up short in the playoffs.
Paul, Griffin and Jordan never took the Clippers past the second round of the playoffs. They had that epic collapse to the Houston Rockets in the 2015 Western Conference Semifinals when they were up 3-1 in the series and had a 19-point lead mid-third quarter of Game 6. The Clippers lost Game 6 and the series.
There were always reports that Paul, Griffin and Jordan had tension behind the scenes and Paul never liked being coached by Rivers. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are two unselfish superstars who don't have egos.
It's easy to see why Doc Rivers senses a different vibe around this Clippers team.
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