Clippers: Doc Rivers’ strong claim on Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan

The LA Clippers will be moving into their own arena next season, and Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers believes Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan should be there. Well, maybe not in person.

Doc Rivers’ Bucks defeated James Harden and the Clippers on Sunday afternoon, a game in which Kawhi Leonard and Paul George sat out due to injury management. It did mark a return, however, for the coach who helped put the Clippers franchise on the map back in 2013.

From that point forward, the Clippers went on to four consecutive 51+ win seasons, something that had only been done once in franchise history (in the 2012-13 season under head coach Vinny Del Negro).

“I took the job and my number one goal was to make the Clippers a destination,” Doc Rivers explained to ClutchPoints over the weekend. “That was what we said. Make this place [a place you want to be]. I told this story, I wanted to cover up the Laker banners not because it was the Lakers, I just thought it was a Clipper game. Let’s be the Clippers. And then I wanted to retire a jersey. There was no jersey to retire. And so I looked at our guys and said, ‘we have to build a tradition here so there will be.'”

The team acquired Chris Paul, adding him to a roster with Rookie of the Year Blake Griffin and a rising DeAndre Jordan. Those three players led the ‘Lob City’ era of Clippers basketball for six highly entertaining seasons that made one of the worst franchises in NBA history must-see TV.

Bucks head coach Doc Rivers believes all three of those former stars should have their jerseys retired with the Clippers when it’s all said and done.

“I think there will be jerseys coming forward. I think Blake. I think DJ, 100% should be. And I think Chris Paul. So now, they’re starting to create a history and that’s important for franchises and that was what we wanted to do.”