Sixers’ Doc Rivers gives thoughts on incident with Joel Embiid and Nic Claxton, Draymond Green suspension
NEW YORK Wondering how Doc Rivers feels about instigation, retaliation, Joel Embiids Flagrant 1 foul and James Hardens Flagrant 2 in the Sixers Game 3 win Thursday night over the Nets?
The Sixers head coach left little unsaid Friday afternoon. He also shared thoughts on seven-time All-Defensive selection Draymond Greens one-game suspension for stomping on Domantas Sabonis during Game 2 of the Warriors-Kings first-round series.
Listen, Im going to say this and I probably shouldnt I didnt think Draymond shouldve gotten suspended and I think the league is setting up a very dangerous precedent right now,” Rivers said ahead of a team film session. And this is not me campaigning, all right? And Im dead serious. If were going to start punishing the retaliators and not the instigators, then weve got a problem in this league.
Rivers then shifted his attention to "I don't think I've ever seen that in my career before" Hooooo boy, Sixers-Nets already getting spicy in Game 3 👀😳 pic.twitter.com/4KWf7USwbN
- Jacque Vaughn on Embiid kicking Nic Claxton pic.twitter.com/ASE24WShCW
I love Jacque, Rivers said of Vaughn, who played for his 2002-03 Magic team, but I cant believe we have coaches campaigning for guys not to play. Thats just nuts to me, really. Ive been a player and this is a players league, and I am 100 percent pro-player. I think players should play in games. We talk all year about fans not being happy about guys not playing, and now were taking guys out of the playoffs.
I dont believe in the past stuff either. They take away all your techs at the end of the season and you start over. Then you should start over on that stuff, too. (NBA executive vice president and head of basketball operations Joe Dumars) was saying with Draymond that the past no. You shouldve done something then. This is now. But on top of that, Draymond Green stepped on (Sabonis) chest because he was holding his foot. The instigator was holding his foot.
Rivers recognizes that players dont approach these incidents as they did during his career on the court, which spanned from 1983 through 1996 and and included a stint with Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason and the notoriously physical, ready-to-scrap Knicks.
If I was at a park and you stood over me, were going to have a problem, he continued. Now, I didnt grow up in the sticks and stones era. I grew up in the break the bones era, so it was a little different. Having said that, these guys know they can do it because they know, most likely, you cant do anything (in response).
Im not picking on Claxton, but I dont think, at a park, youre standing over Joel. But when youve got the refs and everybody else there, you know nothings going to happen. So what Im concerned by is teams targeting the better players with instigation to get them thrown out, and the better player has to be above and cant retaliate.
I even go back to the (former Clippers owner Donald Sterling) thing. Sterling says that crap he says, and no one talked about Sterling anymore. They were waiting for us to respond. It shouldnt be about how we responded; it should be about the person who commits the act. And so thats the only thing Im concerned with. The Joel thing will take care of itself. Weve got to be better, too. We knew coming into the game that they were going to be more physical, and weve got to handle that better as a group.”
Still, Rivers was far from finished.
Harden on Thursday night called his Flagrant 2 foul for off-ball, below-the-belt contact on Royce ONeale an unacceptable decision. His coach was on the same page.
James thing was a joke, Rivers said. I hadnt seen it clear enough until late last night. Were watching film and the first thing with James I said is, Im still looking for the foul. The problem I have with James being thrown out is there were three officials and at least one or two guys in Secaucus, and thats what they came up with? I just cant understand that one.
Joels couldve went either way, now that Ive watched it. I think he kicked him in the leg, actually, but I dont know if thats where he was targeting or not. But dont stand over me. We have these unwritten rules in hockey where, if you do something its almost like youre allowed to do things in hockey. Well, we need to create some (unwritten rules) in our league. And one of them is you dont straddle a guy and stand over him. You just dont.
Having said all that, lets get back to basketball. We definitely have to be ready and handle that stuff better as a group. Joels probably the main guy, but its the whole game, if you watched it. They were bumping him, they were hitting him, they were holding him, and it was allowed. And the the lesser guys never get that treatment. No ones doing that to them.
So were asking our stars to turn their heads a whole bunch more than they can at times. Its a tough one for the league. I think theyre in a tough spot, but I do think if youre going to suspend Draymond, you should suspend the other guy, too. Youve created it, you go too. So if you want to do that, youre putting yourself with the chance, if the guy does respond, that you may go too. I think we have to come up with something like that. Im no longer on the rules committee, but thats what I would go to.
