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Doc Rivers almost quit his job back in 2013 six days after taking the Los Angeles Clippers head coaching position.
In an interview with Arash Markazi of the Los Angeles Times, Rivers tells the story of how former Clippers owner Donald Sterling didn't follow through on a deal to acquire JJ Redick. When Rivers heard that, he told Sterling he was going to quit his job with the Clippers.
Article Continues Below“I was on the job for six days and I quit,” Rivers said. “The deal went through and everyone said it was a great deal. I flew back home to Orlando for a couple of days and I got a call from [former Clippers president] Andy Roeser saying Donald Sterling decided he didn’t want to do the deal. I said, ‘What do you mean? The deal is already done. JJ is a free agent. He backed out of a deal to sign with us. If we don’t do this deal we’ll never get another free agent. It’s our word.'
“I got on the phone with Donald and he was telling me how great his word was. I was in the airport parking lot screaming, ‘No, no, no, no! You’re not going to do this! This is my reputation!' He just went on and on about his reputation and how great it was.
“Finally at the end of it I said, ‘If you don’t do the trade, I quit.' He said, ‘You can’t quit, you signed a five-year deal, I’ll make sure you don’t coach anywhere!’ I said, ‘I’m fine with that. I’ll find a job. I’ll do something, but I’m not going to do this. I gave the guy my word. I shook his hand.”
The Clippers ended up acquiring Redick, who spent four seasons with the franchise.
Doc Rivers is still with the Clippers, but this story just shows the tenuous relationship he had with Sterling from the beginning of his tenure in Los Angeles.
