Rivers sorry for swearing at L.A. fan
DALLAS — Frustrated, Austin Rivers swore at a Clippers fan that had mocked DeAndre Jordan late in the team’s defeat to the Utah Jazz on Thursday night at Staples Center.
Before the Clippers started practice Friday, Rivers said he was wrong and wanted to apologize for his actions toward the fan sitting courtside.
“I definitely shouldn’t have said anything,” Rivers said as the Clippers shot around in preparation for Saturday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks. “This is the message I want to say. I’m sorry for using profanity, but I was sticking up for my teammate, bottom line.”
A video shows Rivers walking toward half court and then venturing back toward some fans. He can be heard saying to a fan: “Shut the ... up.”
The video also shows Jordan walking over and pulling Rivers away.
“After the game, I went back to that fan and apologized to him,” Rivers said. “Gave him dap, a handshake and a hug and said, ‘Hey, I apologize. I was frustrated.’ They were like, ‘We weren’t the people who said that.’ I go, ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have reacted that way anyways.’ He said, ‘It was someone behind us.’ That’s what I heard.
“I never respond to that stuff but we were down 20 and I was frustrated. It happens. First of all, this happens all the time with players and fans. I just got caught because the camera was on me. So it was bad timing, first and foremost, and it was a bad thing for me to do. Someone was talking ... about DJ and I was sticking up for him. That’s just what it was. It was a simple as that. But I was wrong.”
Rivers said he knows better because he is frequently subjected to fans’ trash talk about his dad, Doc Rivers, the coach of the Clippers.
“I understand I’m not supposed to respond that way. I never do,” Rivers said. “I mean, come on, man, ya’ll see the stuff I deal with my pops every game. I don’t ever respond to that .... But last night someone was talking ... about my teammate and I stood up for him, bottom line. I shouldn’t have done it that way, but I did.”
Scoring power lacking
When the Clippers got down against the Jazz, Doc Rivers surmised Friday, L.A. didn’t have enough firepower to mount a comeback.
And that’s how it’s going to be during the two months that leading scorer Blake Griffin (23.6 points per game) is out with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee.
“The one thing we don’t have is comeback power,” Doc Rivers said.
“We’ve got to keep it in striking distance. What I told our guys after games is, ‘We’re going to play ourselves into every game and it’s going to be down to taking care of the ball, turning over the ball and defending the three.’ If we can do those things, we’ll win a couple of games here.”
TODAY
AT DALLAS When: 11 PST On the air: TV: Prime Ticket; Radio: 570, 1330. Update: Jordan is booed every time he plays in Dallas because he spurned the Mavericks after agreeing to sign with them two seasons ago (he returned to the Clippers instead). Jordan has constantly reminded them of what they didn’t get. In 31 games against the Mavericks, Jordan has shot 68.2% from the field, the highest field-goal percentage of any player against Dallas since the 1985-86 season. The Mavericks are struggling on offense, averaging just 99.5 points (which is 27th in the NBA) and shooting just 43% from the field (29th in the league).