After leading the LA Clippers to the best season in franchise history (57-25), and deftly handling the Donald Sterling debacle, Doc Rivers’ contract was extended, and he was promoted from vice-president to president of basketball operations this summer.
Rivers’ wallet also got a nice bump – the Clips will reportedly pay their head coach more than $50 million over the next five years. Per ESPN:
Rivers’ new deal will pay him in excess of $10 million annually, according to multiple sources.
Rivers had two years remaining on the three-year, $21 million deal he signed last year when he came to Los Angeles from the Boston Celtics.
After [Steve] Ballmer was introduced as the new owner of the Clippers two weeks ago, Rivers downplayed the reports of his imminent departure if Sterling was still associated with the team by the start of the season. […] “I honestly didn’t think that was going to happen, you know, logically speaking,” Rivers said. “[NBA commissioner] Adam [Silver] had already taken the team away. You know, I thought that took on its own life. It went from that to if the season starts and such and such is the owner, which I never said that part. It was true, though. Sometimes you do have to take a stand, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I didn’t think I was going to have to, honestly. But I think a lot of us would have been willing to, for sure.”
