Getty Boston Celtics former coach Doc Rivers.
Former Boston Celtics big man Glen Davis has had a lot to say about his former head coach Doc Rivers. In a July 27 interview with VladTV, Davis reflected on what it was like to return to play for Rivers when he signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014. In short, Davis heavily regrets playing for Rivers in LA.
“Worst mistake I ever made,” Davis said. “I came [to the Clippers] as the new Glen Davis, and he’s seeing me as the old Glen Davis, and it just didn’t work with the Clippers. He didn’t f*** with me.”
Davis referenced one specific incident on March 29, 2014, in which Doc had him escorted off the bench after an argument between the two as the one that would kill his career.
“I’m in the game against Houston, and I’m not playing a lot. He’s taking me out of the game real fast. I’m like, ‘Doc, what you brought me here for?’ I said it to him going down to the bench. This motherf***** kicked me out of the game. … [Security] escorted me out of the game. That s*** right there kills my career.”
Davis later explained that it made him look bad for teams potentially considering bringing him on as a veteran.
“That s*** killed my career because guess what? Other teams that need role players and veterans, what you think they thinking?”
Even though Davis went on to re-sign with the Clippers the next season, he claimed that he only did so because he had no other options.
Davis Claims Rivers Lowballed Him in 2014
Before Rivers offered Davis what would be his last contract in the NBA, Davis claims that a picture of him in Amsterdam from TMZ that went viral got in the way of him signing with another team during the 2014 offseason. According to Davis, because of that picture, Doc was able to lowball him to return to the Clippers.
“With Amsterdam, they put me on TMZ because I was over there smoking a blunt in Amsterdam. … Doc [said], ‘Okay, let me get you a one-year deal, minimum,’ when I’m way better than that. I had to go back to that because Doc was the only person that took me back because I was with his players. I had a deal with the Washington Wizards at that time before I was going to sign back with the Clippers, and they shut it down. Doc was like, ‘What you wanna do?’ He lowballed me because of that situation.”
That’s not the only grievance Davis had with Rivers during their time together.
Davis Blames Rivers for Boston Losing 2010 NBA Finals
Davis believes that Doc’s strategies as a coach were what led to the Celtics losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2010 NBA Finals. More specifically, he believes that Doc’s habit of overplaying his veterans led to the team running out of gas.
“That was Doc’s fault. I blame that on Doc,” Davis said. “Doc has a mentality of rolling with his veterans. The guys that he feels like got him there, but when you go back to 2010, Game 4, right. That was my big breakout game. … That game, we had to find energy from something else. It’s the same thing for Game 7, Doc. We’ve got to find the energy from somewhere else in Game 7. So, Rasheed Wallace playing all these minutes. (Kevin Garnett) playing all these minutes. You’ve got to let us give them some break. There was a period in the second half he didn’t sub.”
While understanding why Rivers would prefer to play his veterans, Davis added that because he felt he proved himself in Game 4 of that series, he deserved more time.
“I get it. You want your veterans to help you. You rely on your veterans. You rely on the guys that got you there, but as a coach, you have to adjust, and that’s the greatest thing about being coaches, being able to adjust on the fly at this moment. … At the same time, I’ve already proven myself in Game 4 that I can get things done. I can go out there and get us some quality buckets, quality shots. So, I feel like he didn’t use what truly got him there.”
Davis later references Shaquille O’Neal as someone Doc could have played in that series, but Shaq wasn’t on that team. He signed with the Celtics that summer.