Clippers coach Doc Rivers and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson had their differences while playing in the NBA, famously working each other over in a bench-clearing 1993 brawl. But now they’re working together, trying to move racist Donald Sterling out of his ownership of the Clippers and move the team and league past the scandal he created.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver fined Sterling $2.5 million and wants the league owners to force him to sell the Clippers in response to racist comments he made in a recorded conversation. Before Tuesday’s playoff game, Rivers praised the work his former nemesis Johnson has done as the lead advocate for the NBA players union.
“Kevin Johnson, joking, I like him again,’’ Rivers said. “It’s amazing. Like, he’s been great. He was great, what he said [Tuesday]. I didn’t know he could speak so well, so eloquently, my goodness. But just the rallying that this isn’t just about the Clippers, or Lakers, or LA, but this is something bigger, support this team.’’
The two former point guards have a history from the brawl between Rivers’ Knicks and Johnson’s Suns two decades ago.
The melee — one of multiple fights that night — started when Johnson threw a forearm and body-blocked Rivers to the court. Rivers then charged the Phoenix guard, prompting both benches to clear.
“It looked bad,” Rivers said at the time. “I’m embarrassed by it. I’m not a fighter.’’
Now he and Johnson are on the same side, singled out by Silver for their leadership in fighting against overt racism.
“I am particularly grateful for the leadership shown by coach Doc Rivers, union president Chris Paul and Mayor Kevin Johnson of Sacramento, who has been acting as the players’ representative in this matter,’’ Silver said Tuesday.