Doc Rivers nearly quit his job as Clippers head coach when Donald Sterling refused to sign JJ Redick because the now-disgraced owner 'doesn't like white players'

• Doc Rivers nearly quit as head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers in 2013.
• He had just secured a sign-and-trade deal with sharpshooter JJ Redick, but disgraced team owner Donald Sterling tried to block the deal because he "doesn't like white players."
• "By the very end of the conversation [with Sterling], I quit," Rivers told Ernie Johnson. "I said 'I will not let you ruin my reputation.'"
• Sterling changed his mind some three hours later, but "that moment, I knew we were in trouble," Rivers said.

Doc Rivers has been head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers for nearly seven seasons now, but he almost walked away just weeks into the gig.

Rivers — who worked under now-disgraced team owner Donald Sterling at the time — had just secured a sign-and-trade deal to bring sharpshooter JJ Redick from the Milwaukee Bucks to Los Angeles, but then-Clippers President Andy Roeser called with news that the deal wouldn't go through because "Donald doesn't like white players."

"I'm in the garage in the Orlando airport," Rivers told Ernie Johnson. "I get a call from Coach K who's upset because of JJ. I get a call from JJ's agent who's screaming at me."

Rivers decided to call Sterling to settle the situation with him directly and, unsurprisingly, things got heated.

"Me and Donald are having a conversation," Rivers said. "By the very end of the conversation, I quit ... I said 'I will not let you ruin my reputation. Not gonna happen. It will never happen.'"

"I was screaming... 'I will not coach another day if this deal doesn't go through,'" he added.

Rivers told Johnson that he was fairly confident that he didn't have a job at that point. He went home and told his wife and his agent that he was pretty sure he was unemployed.

"Three hours later, I get a call from Andy Roeser and he says 'Hey man, the deal is done,'" Rivers said. "'Donald's all-in.' Didn't say why. Didn't say anything. Just, he changed his mind."

"That moment, I knew we were in trouble," he added. "I knew I was in trouble."

Less than one year after his disagreement with Rivers over acquiring Redick, Sterling came under fire after TMZ and Deadspin released a clip of the attorney and businessman making racist statements about black people. The remarks prompted protests from current players and near-immediate condemnation from league legends such as Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Days later, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling from the league for life and forced him to sell the team. Former Microsoft owner Steve Ballmer took over as owner, and Rivers still coaches the team to this day.

Check out Rivers' conversation with Johnson below:

—NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) May 19, 2020

• Read more:
• Basketball legend Diana Taurasi said Michael Jordan's win-at-all-costs mentality resonates with her
• ESPN's 'The Last Dance' has given modern NBA fans a unique look at Steve Kerr
• The surprise feel-good story of Kevin Durant's new documentary on PG County basketball was Quinn Cook's NBA breakthrough
• Agent Rich Kleiman reflects on Kevin Durant's famous 2014 MVP speech: 'You're never going to replicate that moment'

Read the original article on Insider