The Los Angeles Clippers are moving forward without head coach Doc Rivers as reports said the latter will not return next season. Rivers confirmed the exit in a Twitter post and indicated that even without him the team will continue accomplishing great things.
The news was first dropped by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who claimed Rivers is officially out as Clippers head coach. Shortly after, reports came out saying that the departure was a mutual decision made by Rivers and the team higherups.
The Clippers started the season as among the favorites to win the NBA title but the team collapsed in the playoff series with the Denver Nuggets and failed to advance to the Western Conference final showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers. A big change was expected as a result of the playoff loss but Fadeaway World said Rivers getting the boot came as a surprise.
The Clippers Nation greeted the development with shock with some wondering how the decision was arrived at. In recent days, there were whispers of an overhaul that the team will implement but it was made clear Rivers will stay on to do a mini-rebuild for next season.
Rivers though is all grateful as he took to social media to give word on the matter.
"Thank you to all the players, coaches, and staff for helping us to get here. Most importantly, thank you to the fans. We went through a lot, and I am grateful for my time here," the coach was reported as saying.
The Clippers provided no further details on who will get the job that Rivers will vacate but it can be assumed one of his assistants, one of them is Tyronn Lue and possibly the most qualified, will take on the role in an interim capacity.
And almost immediately, questions arose on what Rivers will be doing next. On this, there will be a lot of options waiting for the respected tactician, who boasts of an NBA title win while calling the shots at Boston Celtics in 2008, according to CBS Sports.
One possibility is for the veteran coach to take a break from the job for at least a year and do some analyst works at the same time. It is not remote that Rivers will be seen on television in the months to come, still talking about basketball but as an observer.
The forced vacation, however, is not seen to last long. Possibly by next season, Rivers will be handling a new team again and there are too many jobs waiting for him. To date, the head coaching positions for the New Orleans Pelicans, Philadelphia 76ers, and Houston Rockets are still available.
But the one team that might just interest Rivers would be the Milwaukee Bucks. Headlined by Giannis Antetokounmpo but still lacking an NBA championship, the organization is expected to build around the two-time MVP and it is a task that Rivers would love to take on.
