Doc Rivers says Clippers players were ready to walk away from playoffs: 'They thought it was over'

The Los Angeles Clippers’ head coach Doc Rivers granted an interview to Fox Prime Ticket on Thursday, just a day after an impromptu strike by NBA players led the league to postpone playoff games.

Rivers revealed that his team had believed the season was “over,” and were prepared to fully walk away from the playoffs.

The strike came as a response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot seven times in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisc. Blake is now reportedly paralyzed.

On Wednesday night, after games were postponed, the remaining NBA teams met to discuss if they would continue at all that season. During that discussion, USA TODAY Sports reported that the Lakers and Clippers were ready to walk away from the season. (In an interview with JJ Redick, Landry Shamet confirmed that the two teams had voted to end the season in an initial vote, but that “things were moving really fast.”)

While the two teams initially voted to walk away, the rest of teams could not reach a consensus. The next day the players all agreed to move on with the playoffs.

Speaking with Fox Prime Ticket, Rivers was asked about his team being ready to move on with the playoffs, and responded that his team is now “really looking forward to it.”

Despite that, however, Rivers noted that Wednesday “was a very difficult day though. Like their emotions were all over the place.” He went on to say regarding his team that “they thought it was over. It was just a really tough day for all of them.”