Doc Rivers discussed on Friday his real reason for joining the Los Angeles Clippers and addressed his recent spat with ESPN analyst Bill Simmons, USA Today Sports reports.
Simmons accused Rivers last week of quitting on the team when he decided to leave for Los Angeles. Rivers, however, insists that isn't the case. He spoke on Friday during the "Dan Patrick Show" and said it was a mutually agreed upon decision between himself and Celtics president Danny Ainge (via USA Today Sports):
"It's not that hard of a story. They wanted to unload contracts for draft picks. I happened to be one of those contracts. This is a direct quote from an owner: 'Listen, this is a win-win for us. If we can get a pick for you and you have a chance to go to a team like the Clippers and continue to coach and continue to pursue winning and we can get to rebuilding.'
"That's exactly what happened last night. Clearly, I had a selfish motive. I had a chance to not rebuild and go to a team that is in a different phase of their franchise. So everyone benefitted from it. Clearly I — at least, I hope I benefitted from it, but this was done together. This was not me walking into the Celtics and saying 'I quit' or anything like that."
Verbal jabs were exchanged between Rivers and Simmons on Thursday during the telecast of the 2013 NBA draft.
When asked about Simmons' allegations of him quitting on the team, Rivers said: "I would like to call him an idiot, but I'm too classy for that."
Simmons fired back and said Rivers kept changing his story.
During the interview on Friday, Rivers gave his take on Simmons.
"Bill's a fan," Rivers told Dan Patrick. "Is he qualified to do the NBA? Well, we can debate that all day. But Bill's a fan, and I get that. He's not a friend of mine or a fan of mine and he never has been."
