Could Doc Rivers Bridge Gap Between Chris Paul And Blake Griffin?

Doc Rivers could be on his way to the Los Angeles Clippers, and one of his greatest attributes as a head coach — personality management — would instantly be put to the test. He would have to unite Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.

While Griffin and Paul don’t necessarily dislike each other, according to Ric Bucher, the two have had their differences:

"The issues between CP3 and Blake Griffin weren’t that they dislike each other, but rather that they were vying for control of the team. It went something like this, according to a source: Paul would be very exact about how the Clippers should play and if there was any divergence, he’d make his unhappiness about it painfully clear. Griffin, in turn, would see the team kowtowing to Paul and question — especially if Paul’s plan de-emphasized Griffin — why the team was capitulating to Paul. All that said, Doc did wonders bridging the gap between Rondo and the Celtics’ Big Three, so if anyone can make this work, it’s him. The ultimate question, of course, is will the talent be commensurate with what Boston had for that one successful run?"

As Bucher states, Rivers did an excellent job of uniting the personalities in Boston. He had to deal with a growing ego of Rajon Rondo, as well as three superstars who were used to being the shot-callers.

Last season, it became blatantly clear that Vinny Del Negro just wasn’t competent enough to get the Clippers over the top. It seemed that Paul was the one running the offense and not the head coach, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering what an intelligent player CP3 is. Still, it seems that Griffin was not a huge fan of it.

If Doc was leading the Clippers next season, the team morale would most certainly be better. Not only is Rivers great with managing players, but Kevin Garnett would presumably be there as well, and the two would bring much-needed championship experience with them.