"This is a little too heavy"- Austin Rivers in splits as he debunks Doc Rivers merciless trash talk in Clippers practice per "Clipped"

Doc Rivers, portrayed by Laurence Fishburne, plays a major role in FX’s mini-series entitled “Clipped.” Rivers’ perspective is one of the main views in a story that digs into the story of former LA Clippers governor Donald Sterling. The NBA gave the controversial billionaire a lifetime ban in 2014 following recorded videos of racial slurs.

Rivers was a few years removed from guiding the Boston Celtics to the 2008 NBA championship. When the Cs decided to start a full rebuild by trading Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, “Doc” left Beantown to take his talents to Hollywood. He signed to coach the “other” Los Angeles team in the summer of 2013.

In one of the six episodes, a clip of an LA Clippers scrimmage went viral. In the video, Doc Rivers showed a side that promptly gained a ton of reactions on social media. The veteran coach took shots at his players during one of their practices.

Austin Rivers’ response to the viral clip was probably what many expected. He posted on X, formerly Twitter:

“This a little too heavy”

In the video, Doc Rivers told De’Andre Jordan, played by Sheldon Bailey, that he probably should have “listened to Sterling” and traded the center. The action started when Blake Griffin (Austin Scott] received a pass on the left block from Jamal Crawford [Darryl Wesley]. Matt Barnes (Sarunas J. Jackson) put on a half-hearted effort to guard LA’s superstar forward.

Rivers was upset with Barnes’ lack of effort and blasted him:

“Damn, you that lazy in bed, Matt? No wonder your wife is leaving you.”

LA Clippers players, including JJ Redick (Charlie McElveen) and Chris Paul (J. Alphonse Nicholson), were stunned by the shot. They knew Barnes was in a sensitive situation with his former wife Gloria Govan. That Rivers would use that to call out the small forward was a shocker to them.

Austin Rivers also played for his father with the Clippers for nearly four seasons. He had numerous scrimmages under Doc Rivers’ guidance and couldn’t disagree more with how the coach was portrayed in that sequence.

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Doc Rivers once admitted that his ‘ego’ made him sign with the Clippers under Donald Sterling

The Boston Celtics had not won the NBA championship since 1986 when Doc Rivers was hired by the team in the summer of 2004. Four years later, he guided the franchise to banner No. 17 to break a tie with the LA Lakers for most in the league. LA would tie the score two years later when they got their revenge against Boston in 2010.

Rivers said in an interview with TNT’s Ernie Johnson that he did his due diligence about Donald Sterling but still decided to join the Clippers. Here was his reason for signing despite the rumors around the former team owner:

“I did my research on Donald Sterling. I knew he wasn’t trustworthy [and] I knew he had a lot of flaws. … I should have done better research. … There were so many things that were bad about Donald Sterling coming in.

“My ego, and I have to admit that, really thought, ‘Okay, I can turn this franchise.’ This is the worst franchise in sports and I can do this. This would be my ultimate goal.”

Under Doc Rivers, the LA Clippers never even reached the Western Conference finals. They were able to shake off the Donald Sterling controversy but they couldn’t get it done on the court. Rivers’ Clippers had a 3-1 lead against the Denver Nuggets in the 2020 West semifinals but still lost. He left LA before the Philadelphia 76ers hired him.