"He paid his son that money" - Matt Barnes points fingers at Doc Rivers dismissing Joe Johnson's take on Clippers meltdown
Matt Barnes has accused former coach Doc Rivers of ruining the LA Clippers' chances to win a championship during the 'Lob City' era. After former NBA player Joe Johnson wrote that the Utah Jazz 'broke' the Clippers when they tried to make a run for the championship, Barnes rejected that notion and pointed fingers at Doc Rivers.
Barnes blamed Doc Rivers for giving his son Austin Rivers a contract that wasn't met with good eyes by the rest of the team.
"Utah Jazz broke that s**t up," Johnson commented on an Instagram post by 'All the Smoke' two weeks ago.
"Nah Doc broke that s**t up when he paid his son that money. He lost the team after that," Barnes responded.
That Clippers team will go down as one of the biggest 'what-ifs' in NBA history, as they had a huge but wasted potential. They lost several playoff series under odd circumstances, including blowing a 3-1 lead against the Houston Rockets when they looked ready to face the Golden State Warriors before they started their dynasty.
In July 2016, Austin Rivers signed a multiyear deal with the LA Clippers worth more than $35 million for three years, Adrian Wojnarowski reported at the time.
This is presumably the contract Barnes was talking about, as Rivers went from making $3.1 million to $11 million with the team.
Besides the reported intern battles between Blake Griffin and Chris Paul and Doc Rivers' struggles to take the last step, Barnes adds more speculation to what went wrong with the 'Lob City' Clippers.
Doc Rivers failed with the Milwaukee Bucks this season
After a tumultuous stint with the Philadelphia 76ers, Doc Rivers returned to the Milwaukee Bucks, taking over from Adrian Griffin. This team was hit with a couple of injuries during the season, especially from Giannis Antetokounmpo. Rivers managed to make it to the 2024 NBA playoffs, but the Indiana Pacers quickly eliminated them in the first round.
Giannis' issues gave Rivers a free pass, but next season he'll be under scrutiny. The Bucks were one of the best teams in the East, even with Mike Budenholzer on the bench. Rivers needs to show something different, as plenty of fans are paying close attention to his performance in Milwaukee.