Doc Rivers will quit if Sterling isn't removed

Yahoo- The interim CEO of the Los Angeles Clippers testified Tuesday that coach Doc Rivers told him he will quit if Donald Sterling remains the owner of the team.

CEO Richard Parsons testified at a trial to determine whether Sterling's wife, Shelly, can sell the team for $2 billion to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer as the NBA looks to force Donald Sterling from the league over racist statements.

"Doc is troubled by this maybe more so than anybody else," Parsons said about Rivers, who is black. "If Mr. Sterling continues as owner, he does not want to continue as coach."

The most apt comparison for the Donald Sterling fiasco is a roller coaster. It's going to keep going and going with twists and turns before it finally ends.


The worst case scenario isn't that Steve Ballmer's purchase of the Clippers is held up, it's that key members of the Clippers franchise could walk, refuse to play, or force themselves out of the organization before this soap opera comes to an end.


I wish that was just me- a blogger about as removed from the Clippers as it gets- was stirring the internet pot. Unfortunately for me- a basketball fan- it's not. This is a real worry that the interim CEO of the Clippers is legitimately concerned about.

"If Doc were to leave, that would be a disaster,'' Parsons said. ''Doc is the father figure, the one who leads."

Under questioning by Ballmer's lawyer, Parsons said the departure of Rivers would "accelerate the death spiral" of the Clippers.

"If your coach leaves, if your players don't want to play with you, what do you have?" Parsons asked. "If your sponsors leave and the fans leave, it's going to spiral down and down."

Not great, Bob.


Right now the future of the franchise is being held up by Donald Sterling and his camp. It's him against the world and as a man who admittedly LOVES the courtroom, he isn't going down any other way. The lawyer for Shelly Sterling, summed it up best:

Right now, we're in the grips of Donald Sterling's craziness.

Follow Padraic O'Connor on Twitter @padraic_oconnor