By: Jarrod Horton
Staff Writer
Following the Los Angeles Clippers epic failure in this year’s playoffs, it was expected that the organization was going to make a change. However, it was still a bit of surprise that they fired their head coach Doc Rivers. Even though Rivers won an NBA Championship as the head coach of the Boston Celtics, he never reached the Conference Finals as the coach of the Clippers.
This year the expectations were higher for the Clippers because they acquired all-stars Kahwi Leonard and Paul George. All season people have picked the team as their favorite to win the championship, or at the very least make it to the Conference Finals. Not only did they fail to make it, but they lew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets.
So it could be stated that Rivers underachieved as a coach. In the sports world, players get traded and coaches get fired every day. The fact that Rivers got fired is not out the ordinary. The bigger problem is that he was one of the few Black coaches in the NBA. Over 80% of the NBA players are Black, but now there are only four Black head coaches. Therefore whenever a Black coach gets fired, it creates headlines. The racial disparity sometimes get addressed, but not to the point that it creates change.
The NBA has tried to become progressive and support the Black Lives Matter movement this season. When the season resumed in the Florida bubble, the league allowed players to wear social commentary on their jerseys. They even painted the words, Black Lives Matter, on the center of their basketball court. Despite all their efforts to support the so-called advancement of Black folks, it has yet to translate to racial equality in their coaching ranks.