Doc Rivers: Clippers 'Didn't Accept at Least One of the New Guys' Last Season

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers gave fans a glimpse at some of the issues the Los Angeles Clippers played through last season before a failed postseason run cost him his job. 

Speaking with ESPN's Cassidy Hubbarth, Rivers explained there was tension in the locker room due to some of the team's offseason acquisitions heading into the 2019-20 campaign.  

"The guys that were there the year before," Rivers said. "Honestly didn’t accept at least one of the new guys."

There were only two main additions to the Clippers ahead of last season: Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.

That Clippers team already has a spot in NBA lore among failed experiments. If blowing a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Denver Nuggets weren't enough, the amount of turnover and trash talk that has come out in the 60 days since the season ended have revealed more questions than answers. 

Tyronn Lue replaced Rivers. Montrezl Harrell left for the Los Angeles Lakers and JaMychal Green bolted to the Nuggets. Elsewhere, George gave an interview in which he admitted the Clippers never adjusted their approach in the postseason once they built their lead on Denver. 

"During that whole process we never worked on adjustments," George told All The Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. "We never worked on what to do differently. We're just literally having the same s--t happen over and over again."

Jovan Buha of The Athletic reported that tone set by George and Leonard is what fostered the sense of complacency. According to Buha, the two stars reportedly had control over the Clippers' travel and practice schedules as well as managing their own playing time. 

Rivers could tell that setup wasn't working with the players he'd already been coaching in Los Angeles since joining the franchise in 2013. 

Now in Philadelphia, he's determined not to let a situation like the Clippers' happen again.

"For us this year, we're going to have to accept everybody on the team," Rivers said. "Play with everybody on the team. We have to do a lot of different stuff and be a better team this year."