The LA Clippers’ Doc Rivers joined several other NBA coaches in support of Luke Walton and the criticism put upon him by LaVar Ball.
Backstory
In case you missed the initial story, LaVar Ball told ESPN that Lakers’ players don’t want to play for Luke Walton. The fact that LaVar made this comment isn’t what is upsetting coaches though. They are upset with the fact that ESPN made this news.
Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle was very upset by this, stating:
"“I view the recent ESPN article as a disgrace. ESPN is an NBA partner, and they’ve been a great one. But part of that partnership is that the coaches do a lot of things to help them with access, interviews, all those kinds of things. In exchange for that, they should back up the coaches. Printing an article where the father of an NBA player has an opinion that’s printed as anything like legitimate erodes trust.”"
Carlisle was joined by the Pistons’ coach Stan Van Gundy, who went a step further. Van Gundy told reporters today that he will refuse to participate in ESPN’s pre-game and in-game interviews because he does not feel that the company respects coaches.
Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors also weighed in on the situation, calling it nonsense and lacking substance.
Doc backs Luke
According to the LA Times, Doc thought that LaVar’s comments about Luke were “awful”. He also said he agreed with Rick Carlisle, but that things wouldn’t change.
"“I think it’s great what Rick Carlisle said. I just think we’re the easy targets all the time. It’s good to have someone fighting for us. I thought what Rick said was terrific. It’s just tough. It’s the world we’re in and we’ve all made it. It is what it is and we all deal with it. But listen, I just think stuff like that is going to keep happening. We know that. I just hope we handle it better.”"
Doc backing Carlisle makes sense. Doc is a unique figure in that he is both a head coach and father of an NBA player. Despite catching unwarranted criticism regarding his own son, Doc has seemingly kept his life as a father and a coach separate. He certainly won’t be the last coach to speak up for Luke, but it’s nice to see him having his fellow coach’s back.
Next: C.J. Williams talks game winning shot versus Atlanta
Note: As I began to type this up, I saw the irony of writing a story about LaVar Ball and how he doesn’t need any attention. It’s (as Steve Kerr so bluntly put it) a societal issue. Hopefully these coaches speaking out will make major media members move away from Ball stories that aren’t related to Lonzo. We’ll just have to wait and see.