Doc Rivers stays strong in eye of Clippers’ storm

3:48 AM ET

LOS ANGELES — Doc Rivers has been the Los Angeles Clippers’ calming force during troubling times like this.

The Clippers have made the playoffs the past five seasons but in each of the past three seasons under Rivers, they’ve been leveled with a gut punch during the postseason that took their breath away and dropped them to their knees. It has become an annual tradition this time of year no one on the team wants to endure, but Rivers is always there to pick them back up.

In his first season, audio tapes of team owner Donald Sterling making racist remarks led to his banishment from the NBA. Rivers served as the voice of the team; shielding his players from the national spotlight and questions. Last season, the Clippers squandered a 3-1 series lead in the second round and a 19-point lead in Game 6 with a chance to clinch and to go to their first conference finals. Rivers stood in front of them afterward and gave them a speech about his career and never giving up that left many in tears. And on Tuesday, Rivers was forced to deliver the news that Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were ruled out for the rest of the playoffs.

Rivers has always been able to stand in front of his team and say something that magically, albeit momentarily, allowed them to forget about the storm clouds above them and believe in themselves again.

Doc Rivers is used to being the Clippers’ rock, but their current, weakened state is testing him more than he’s been tested basketball-wise. Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Whatever Rivers and his team were going through, in his mind, always paled in comparison to what his mother, Bettye, was dealing with. Battling dementia at the end of her life, Rivers’ mother didn’t even know her son’s name at times when he would visit her at their home in Maywood, Illinois. But she was always his inspiration, his strength during these kinds of difficult moments.

Rivers’ strong front finally broke down before Game 5 of the Clippers’ first-round series against the Portland …

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