Celtics trainer came up with the idea to hide Lakers banners
Last week news hit of Doc Rivers wanting to cover up the Lakers 16 World Championship banners during Clippers home games. Needless to say this raised a few eyebrows in the Lakers locker room. In an interview with ESPN, former Clipper/current Laker Nick Young seemed genuinely shocked by the news:
He can do that. For real? That’s disrespectful. We got to talk to Doc. He can’t have that. We got to do something about that…. That’s a lot of pull y’all are giving Doc,” Young said, somewhat facetiously. “I think he shouldn’t come in and have so much pull like that. He’s got to earn his keep.”
Doc Rivers, after an L.A. Times interview of praising the Los Angeles Lakers as the greatest franchise in history, is sticking to his guns by saying that this isn't to slight the team with the history, it's merely an effort to give the Clippers their due. After all, they are paying half of the rent on the Staples Center.
“Well, I didn’t look at it as the banner thing. I just look at it as putting our guys up…. Listen, I think this is our arena when we play,” Rivers said. “So I just thought it would be good that we show our guys. No disrespect to them. But when we play, it’s the Clippers’ arena as far as I know.”
Oh how the tables have turned, huh? Genius move by Doc. "Oh yea, Lakers, you're the GREATEST! Hands down the greatest of all time. Oh and by the way... there's no way I'm flying your flag when my team is on the court. Oh what's that? You don't like that? Are you the Senior VP for Basketball Operations and head coach of the team that plays in this building? No? Then get used to it." I love it. Not forgive-Doc-for-what-he-said love it, but I'm a fan of this move nonetheless.
As it turns out... maybe Doc's blood still does have a hint of green in it as this idea was birthed by the longest tenured employee of the Boston Celtics, Eddie Lacerte.
Last season, when the Clippers defeated the Celtics in LA 106-77, Lacerte pointed the banners out to Doc at the end of the game, planting the seed for Rivers' banner proclamation.
"Last year when the Clippers were blowing us out and I was sitting there with Eddie Lacerte, our trainer in Boston, and he taps me on the leg and he says, 'Look at that,'" Rivers said. "I didn't want to look at anything at that point, we were literally down 30 points, and I looked up and you see all the banners. And he said, 'Man, I would never have that.' I thought, wow, he's right. So, again, the Lakers can blame a Boston guy."
The reviews on Rivers' move have been polarizing to say the least. Some people love it, some people hate it. Regardless of which side of the argument you fall on, basketball fans are going to have to deal with it. Rivers may not be calling the shots in Boston anymore, but kudos to him for pulling the most Boston move of all time. He's making sure that the only banners his team will be looking at will be their own.
Follow Padraic O'Connor on Twitter @padraic_oconnor
Source: ESPN LA; Arash Markazi
Photo Source: Evan Gole/NBAE/Getty Images