Just three years ago the Los Angeles Clippers were the team many would pronounce as “a head coach away” from being championship contenders, joining the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs. This criticism, of course, came with Vinny Del Negro in the coaches chair. Let the public tell it, Del Negro had done what he could with this Bulls team, the same criticism Del Negro met when head coach of the Chicago Bulls — post-VDN, with Tom Thibodeau at the helm of the franchise, the Bulls emerged as a contender in the Eastern Conference.
Following the Clippers’ loss to Memphis in the 2012 playoffs, the franchise decided to move on, bringing in Doc Rivers via trade to be the franchise’s supposed savior, having already proven with the Boston Celtics in 2008 he knows what it takes to lead a cast of “underachievers” in Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen to the promised land.