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Blake Griffin Not So Subtly Bashes Former Coach Doc Rivers After Big Game Against The Philadelphia 76ers

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There was a time where Blake Griffin was one of the best and most-exciting players in the entire NBA.

Griffin was a five-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA selection with the Los Angeles Clippers.

He finished third in the league’s MVP voting in the 2013-14 season. Coincidentally, that was the first year he worked with then Clippers coach Doc Rivers.

A combination of injury issues and on-court struggles saw Griffin fall off in the coming years under Rivers. He made the All-Star game again in 2015. But that was his last in Los Angeles. The Clippers regular succeeded in the regular season on to flame out when the playoffs arrived.

Eventually, Griffin was traded to the Detroit Pistons in 2018 in a deal involving Tobias Harris. He made one All-Star game in Detroit.

Griffin has since bounced around to Brooklyn and now to the Boston Celtics.

Rivers, meanwhile, was fired by the Clippers in 2020 and quickly hired by the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers, like the Clippers, have had strong regular seasons under Rivers only to see it come crashing down in the playoffs.

Beyond a championship with the Celtics in 2008 and an NBA Finals run two years later, that’s sort of Rivers’ MO.

So when Griffin went 5-of-8 for 15 points to help the heavily depleted Celtics team beat Rivers’ 76ers on Wednesday night, he had some things to say.

“I don’t really take it as disrespected,” Griffin said of being left open beyond the arc. “It hurt ’em. That was their game plan. Obviously, y’know, Doc makes that game plan. They didn’t adjust, which has been sort of thing. No disrespect though.”

Sixers Fans Side With Blake Griffin Over Doc Rivers

Disrespected intended or not, the comment about Rivers not adjusting is telling. And Sixers fans quickly sided with Griffin over Rivers.

Sixers fans have wanted Rivers gone for a while now. And Griffin’s comments only solidify their previously held beliefs. That’s got to be a tough pill for the NBA veteran to swallow.