Doc Rivers Crushes Lakers Rumors

In what should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, LA Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers has officially crushed the rumors of a possible move to the Lakers this summer.

When asked about the rumors of a possible move to the LA Clippers’ cross-town rivals in his pre-game media availability, Doc Rivers stated that the unsubstantiated rumors that had been floating around about him are completely false.

In order to stop the media from going on and on about this nonsensical rumor, Doc decided to speak up during media availability today. Doc’s own words, per Ben Golliver:

"I have a job and the Lakers have a coach. I’m going nowhere. I can tell you that, straight, up front. I’m going to be here until [Clippers owner] Steve [Ballmer] says get out. I plan on being here for a long time.Just so we never talk about this for a while, we end this right now, Magic Johnson and I are very close friends. That’s what we are, good friends. I have great respect for him. But Steve Ballmer and I have a great relationship.This summer we decided to extend my contract. I’m going to throw this out because I think it’s worth saying, it say something about Steve. He did something I don’t think any owner would do. He gave me an out where I could opt out this summer.We wanted to test each other. We thought this was the right fit, but we wanted to make sure. As my dad said, ‘Trust everybody, but cut the cards.’ It was one of those things. Early this year, we both decided let’s end this thing, take this out, extend it and make it a longer deal. We’ve long decided on that but we chose not to say anything about it.I’m here. My job is not done here. I came here for a lot of reasons. One of them was to win a world championship. Another one was to make this a place that people respect and want to come to. That’s my goal. We don’t need to go on this anymore. I’m going to be here and looking forward to the future.Steve was a man of his word. He gave a coach a chance to do what he wanted to do. This coach chose to stay right where he’s at and I’m very happy about it."

So there it is. Not only is Doc Rivers not going to the Lakers, but he’s not going to any other teams either. And who could blame him? The Clippers are one of the most well-run teams in the league from top to bottom. Steve Ballmer is an owner that clearly will spare no expense to put his employees in the best position possible to succeed, the front office has worked masterfully to set the team up with an extremely bright future (marquee free agents or otherwise), and Doc has a group of guys that play hard for him every single night.

Whether these rumors were the result of someone trying to plant seeds of doubt within the Clippers organization or just plain bad reporting (or both), to have them so thoroughly crushed by the man himself is a good feeling for Clippers fans. Not necessarily because the rumors seemed at all legitimate to begin with (they clearly were not), but because it shows his commitment to the team and visa versa.

As for the individuals who spread these rumors, they might want to check their sources. And to the Lakers, you’d best keep looking for that next coach, because you aren’t finding them here.

The Clippers take on the Pacers tonight as they continue to fight for seeding in the Western Conference playoff picture.