Doc draws from Danny
Though Rivers went his own way, he follows Ainge model
Doc Rivers told us recently the real reason he left the Celtics is because he wanted to have the chance to build his own team. He said it wasn’t because he didn’t want to rebuild with the Celts, who’ve been on an accelerated reconstruction pace since 2013.
And while some may raise an eyebrow at that explanation, what we found interesting, too, is Rivers’ hope that he’s taken some of the Celtics west to the Clippers with him.
Especially now that he’s gotten to deal with the full range of responsibilities and consequences of having final say over personnel decisions, he’s grown to appreciate Danny Ainge even more.
“You look at the Celtics, they’ve drafted well,” said Rivers, who carries the title of president of basketball operations in addition to coaching the Clippers. “But one thing I’ve always loved about Danny over all, and I think it’s the thing that I miss the most, is that he’s never been afraid to cut his losses, too. That’s really important. You can look at all the great draft picks, but I look at some of the bad ones where he didn’t hesitate. I’m talking about first-round picks that he released. Most teams wouldn’t do that. Most teams would hold on to them anyway.”
Among the picks from whom Ainge has walked away was R.J. Hunter, the man chosen with the draft chip the Celtics got from the Clippers for the right to sign Rivers away from the C’s.
We’ve long maintained that the best thing that can be said about Ainge is that he’s never done his job to keep his job. While other personnel chiefs gauge how a potential move will look and whether he could be blamed, Ainge — right or wrong, popular or unpopular — takes his shots. If he were to be fired tomorrow, it wouldn’t wound him in the least to have more time to spend with his wife, children and grandchildren and on a golf course (not necessarily in that order).
“That’s exactly right,” Rivers said. “Danny does what he thinks is right, and that’s it. If he and I have anything alike, it’s that. I could have stayed there and been safe. I could have stayed, but I’m thinking, ‘I want to do something more. I want to do it again. I want to do something special.’
“But Danny’s the best at it, to me. He’s not scared. It’s not about his job. It’s about winning and what’s the best way to get there. And he doesn’t care if he’s wrong. Everybody makes mistakes. Danny doesn’t worry about that. He just does what he has to do to fix it and move on. He doesn’t let a mistake get in his way. He’s already on to the next good move.”
There was always strong word that Rivers and Ainge had their contentious moments, but Doc insists they got over them quickly. And it’s also true that, as much as Ainge is exceedingly happy with the job successor Brad Stevens has done, he worked hard to try to keep Rivers from leaving four years ago.
Said Rivers: “Working with Danny, what I loved is that we agreed and disagreed, and what made our relationship great is that when one of us was wrong, we’d look at the other one and say, ‘ Boy I (expletive) that one up,’ and start laughing about it.
“There’s no cover with Danny. He’s not going to cover it up. He’s like, ‘ Hey, I’m trying to win.’ That’s why he was a hell of a player. He was a pain in the ass to play against because of that.”
Rivers has tried to have a similar approach with the Clippers. He’s drawn often on his experience with Ainge.
“Oh, absolutely,” he said. “You know, I’ve made some good moves here and I’ve made some bonehead ones here. I’ve been aggressive. Unfortunately we’ve never had any cap space since I’ve been here, so you’ve been kind of handcuffed in what you do. But I have no problem pulling the trigger and no problem admitting it if a move was good or bad. You just do it, and you do it for what’s right for the team.
“And that’s a challenge when you’re the coach and the president. The biggest challenge is you can’t do it for you. You’re making trades for now and for later. Most coaches look at the now. But if you’re running a team, that’s a mistake. You’ve got to look at the now, but you’ve got to look at the future, too, and that’s always tough.
“You do what’s right for the team. It’s funny, we always preach that to players. Well, everyone in the front office should look at it that way, too.”
But it takes more to build a team that can contend for a championship. Moves have to work out — in some cases better than anticipated (see: Isaiah Thomas). And it’s nice, too, when that pick you got from Brooklyn ends up being No. 1 overall.
“You need to have skill, you need to be prepared, and you need to have good fortune,” Rivers said. “That’s in life; it’s not just in basketball. And then you still may not win, but it definitely helps when you have all that on your side.”