Cuban On Doc Rivers on DeAndre Jordan: 'His professional life was over'

[Tugg Speedman]

So is Cuban accusing Doc of being unethical in getting Jordan to stay?

Cuban responds to Doc Rivers on DeAndre Jordan situation: 'His professional life was over'
September 23, 2015

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/cuban-responds-to-doc-rivers-on-deandre-jordan-situation-his-professional-life-was-over/ar-AAeCE1v?li=BBgzzfc&ocid=SK2HDHP


The DeAndre Jordan saga just won't go away. It's been two months since Jordan changed his mind and left the Dallas Mavericks at the free-agency altar to re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Two weeks ago, Clippers head coach and president of basketball operations Doc Rivers appeared on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on FOX Sports Radio and was critical about the way Mavericks owner Mark Cuban handled the fallout of Jordan's decision.

"I don't know Mark well," Rivers said. "Did he handle this well? No. To me, he acted very silly. Look at the difference. I coached D.J. D.J. didn't call me when he left. Did you see me out in front of the cameras screaming and yelling and crying? I didn't do that. I was disappointed internally and I handled it that way. Mark tends to do things out in the open and that's fine."

Rivers continued, saying that Cuban's reaction to Jordan's change of heart proved that signing with Dallas would have been the wrong choice, anyway.

"When you take shots at D.J., the guy you loved two days ago, now you don't like so much anymore, I think basically all that did was tell D.J. even more that he made the right choice," Rivers said.

On Tuesday, Cuban was a guest on The Herd, and Cowherd played him a couple of audio clips of Rivers' comments. Cuban, who looked shocked throughout the segment, quickly barked back:

"First of all, he obviously didn't actually hear or see what I said," Cuban said. "I didn't say a whole lot. I think I responded to D.J.'s Twitter apology, and that was pretty much it. I haven't said a whole lot about it all. So I don't know where he's getting what he's got.

"But I think the most interesting is it shows what someone will do when their entire future is vanishing in front of them. That's exactly what Doc did, and I give him credit for it. His professional life was over ... if he didn't get D.J. And so his back was against the wall and he did what he needed to do, so more power to him.

"But sometimes the deals you don't do are the best ones, so we'll see. But Doc obviously hadn't heard what I said, because I really didn't say anything."

That's quite the shot by Cuban. Rivers' history as a front-office decision-maker is checkered at best, but to say that his professional life "was over" if Jordan left is implying Rivers' reputation would've been destroyed in the aftermath, leading to him being fired and never working as a coach/GM again.

That may or may not be true -- we'll never know -- but it's clear Cuban was upset by Rivers' comments and wanted to respond with his own damaging barbs.

Moreover, Cuban is slightly stretching the truth here. He's actually spoken out against Jordan on several occasions.

He blasted Jordan on his Cyber Dust app after the apology, which he acknowledges, but he also said "I don't give a f***" about Jordan's apology at Las Vegas Summer League and compared the situation to "makeup sex" in late July on ... wait for it ... The Herd.

Looking at the glass half-full, Cowherd asked Cuban if he felt he lucked out by not "overpaying" Jordan. However, Cuban disagreed, saying he felt D.J. was a franchise cornerstone, and that teams have to overpay to acquire stars and then build around them from there.

"We saw D.J. as a cornerstone, and if you can't handle the pressure of a week, it's going to be difficult handling the pressure of being the cornerstone," Cuban said. "It is what it is. It turned out the way it is. We'll play the games and see what happens.

"But I'm surprised to see Doc say that, honestly, because if you go back and look at the things I said, intentionally I haven't said much. And he said I was out in front of the cameras doing this, this and this. My typical response when someone brings up D.J.'s name is, 'Who?'

"But again, that's who Doc is. I respect the fact that when his professional life was about to dissipate and disappear and go up in flames, they did what they had to do and they got D.J. back. So more power to them."

The Clippers and Mavericks face off on Thursday, Oct. 29 at Staples Center.

[The Lens]

I understand Doc is our guy and all, but the way he frames the Clippers narrative is embarrassing.  He tell every reporter who will listen (which is most) about how he inherited such a flawed roster.

"I want to fix it," Rivers told USA TODAY Sports. "I want to win. That's why I came here. I knew when I came here that roster-wise it was going to be very difficult. The first thing I did before I took this job, I looked at the roster and we laughed. I was like, 'What the (expletive) can we do with this?' It was more the contracts. But we have to try to do it somehow. I don't know how yet, but something will work out."

He inherited DJ, CP3 and Blake.

He also traded a 1st Rounder to Milwaukee so he could GET RID OF Jared Dudley.

Doc is a wonderful, talented coach.  But GM Doc leaves a lot to be desired and probably caused him to go over board in bringing back DJ.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/playoffs/2015/05/17/los-angeles-clippers-doc-rivers-chris-paul-blake-griffin-playoffs/27495223/

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2468683-doc-rivers-says-he-laughed-at-clippers-roster-before-taking-over-team

[Eldon]

So is Cuban accusing Doc of being unethical in getting Jordan to stay?

Cuban responds to Doc Rivers on DeAndre Jordan situation: 'His professional life was over'
September 23, 2015

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/cuban-responds-to-doc-rivers-on-deandre-jordan-situation-his-professional-life-was-over/ar-AAeCE1v?li=BBgzzfc&ocid=SK2HDHP


The DeAndre Jordan saga just won't go away. It's been two months since Jordan changed his mind and left the Dallas Mavericks at the free-agency altar to re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Two weeks ago, Clippers head coach and president of basketball operations Doc Rivers appeared on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on FOX Sports Radio and was critical about the way Mavericks owner Mark Cuban handled the fallout of Jordan's decision.

"I don't know Mark well," Rivers said. "Did he handle this well? No. To me, he acted very silly. Look at the difference. I coached D.J. D.J. didn't call me when he left. Did you see me out in front of the cameras screaming and yelling and crying? I didn't do that. I was disappointed internally and I handled it that way. Mark tends to do things out in the open and that's fine."

Rivers continued, saying that Cuban's reaction to Jordan's change of heart proved that signing with Dallas would have been the wrong choice, anyway.

"When you take shots at D.J., the guy you loved two days ago, now you don't like so much anymore, I think basically all that did was tell D.J. even more that he made the right choice," Rivers said.

On Tuesday, Cuban was a guest on The Herd, and Cowherd played him a couple of audio clips of Rivers' comments. Cuban, who looked shocked throughout the segment, quickly barked back:

"First of all, he obviously didn't actually hear or see what I said," Cuban said. "I didn't say a whole lot. I think I responded to D.J.'s Twitter apology, and that was pretty much it. I haven't said a whole lot about it all. So I don't know where he's getting what he's got.

"But I think the most interesting is it shows what someone will do when their entire future is vanishing in front of them. That's exactly what Doc did, and I give him credit for it. His professional life was over ... if he didn't get D.J. And so his back was against the wall and he did what he needed to do, so more power to him.

"But sometimes the deals you don't do are the best ones, so we'll see. But Doc obviously hadn't heard what I said, because I really didn't say anything."

That's quite the shot by Cuban. Rivers' history as a front-office decision-maker is checkered at best, but to say that his professional life "was over" if Jordan left is implying Rivers' reputation would've been destroyed in the aftermath, leading to him being fired and never working as a coach/GM again.

That may or may not be true -- we'll never know -- but it's clear Cuban was upset by Rivers' comments and wanted to respond with his own damaging barbs.

Moreover, Cuban is slightly stretching the truth here. He's actually spoken out against Jordan on several occasions.

He blasted Jordan on his Cyber Dust app after the apology, which he acknowledges, but he also said "I don't give a f***" about Jordan's apology at Las Vegas Summer League and compared the situation to "makeup sex" in late July on ... wait for it ... The Herd.

Looking at the glass half-full, Cowherd asked Cuban if he felt he lucked out by not "overpaying" Jordan. However, Cuban disagreed, saying he felt D.J. was a franchise cornerstone, and that teams have to overpay to acquire stars and then build around them from there.

"We saw D.J. as a cornerstone, and if you can't handle the pressure of a week, it's going to be difficult handling the pressure of being the cornerstone," Cuban said. "It is what it is. It turned out the way it is. We'll play the games and see what happens.

"But I'm surprised to see Doc say that, honestly, because if you go back and look at the things I said, intentionally I haven't said much. And he said I was out in front of the cameras doing this, this and this. My typical response when someone brings up D.J.'s name is, 'Who?'

"But again, that's who Doc is. I respect the fact that when his professional life was about to dissipate and disappear and go up in flames, they did what they had to do and they got D.J. back. So more power to them."

The Clippers and Mavericks face off on Thursday, Oct. 29 at Staples Center.

Miriam-Webster's should use Cuban's quote, placing it as the lone example under 'passive aggressive'.  I can picture Cuban on the phone with this reporter, and while he's uttering that quote, he has his middle finger out in the air.

[GooooMarquette]

Not only is Cuban's response passive-aggressive, it's a great example of hyperbole.

Regardless of Jordan's decision, Doc's professional life was not about to "dissipate and disappear and go up in flames."  Doc will be able to work as a head coach in the NBA for as long as he chooses, successful GM or not.