Having never met Doc Rivers, I’ve calculated through numerous actions and moments that he’s a pretty smart guy aside from when being asked to do things as team president.
But today? He may have stumbled on his ‘dumbest’ moment as the Clippers head coach criticized an article written by Tom Haberstroh of ESPN in which the made the case against DeAndre Jordan as Defensive Player of the Year, citing Haberstroh’s failure to connect Jordan’s impressive rebounding to his stellar defense:
Doc Rivers wasn't happy about @tomhaberstroh article saying DeAndre Jordan is not the defensive player of the year, saying he took offense.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) March 13, 2015
Doc Rivers on article: "He didn’t mention rebounding. How the hell can you not mention rebounding in defense?"
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) March 13, 2015
Doc Rivers continued: "Rebounding is maybe the No. 1 thing about defense because you have to get the rebound to stop the other [team]."
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) March 13, 2015
Doc:"The other thing he said was there wasn't a lot of use, a lot of guys aren’t driving. Exactly! They’re not driving because D.J. is there
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) March 13, 2015
The only issue? Doc Rivers hadn’t even read Haberstroh’s article, which had it’s own section about Jordan as a rebounder.
Doc Rivers admitted he had not read story by @tomhaberstroh and was fed excerpts by the team's PR staff.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) March 13, 2015
Literally 250 words on it. RT @latbbolch: Doc on article: "He didn’t mention rebounding. How the hell can you not mention rebounding in D?"
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) March 13, 2015
Rivers’ blind admission created a bit of a stir in the writing community as journalists and bloggers took offense to wrongly critiquing an article without reading it, like many mindless commenters do on a daily basis.
Doc Rivers went down the Mark Jackson tunnel and can't come out until he opens his eyes.
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) March 13, 2015
So Doc Rivers goes out of his way in the media to criticize an article he didn't even read. LOL
— Jason Patt (@Bulls_Jay) March 13, 2015
Is Doc lurking on Twitter as @DeAndreSuperFan2015?
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) March 13, 2015
Doc Rivers' indictment of @tomhaberstroh's excellent breakdown of DeAndre Jordan is as weak as Jordan's actual case for winning DPOY.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) March 13, 2015
During his short time as a member of the Clippers, Doc Rivers has made it known he’s going to defend his players to the end, whether that be propping up DeAndre Jordan as an All-Star or potential Defensive Player of the Year or attempting to convince the world that Spencer Hawes is going to get it together.
But this is a new low. Being a defensive coach (literally) is normal throughout professional sports, but defending to no end without sifting through the article personally is quite embarrassing, and I’m sure Rivers has access to an ESPN insider account, and if he doesn’t, the public relations staff that sent the excerpts his way surely do.
As Draymond Green would say, cool story Glenn.
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