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Doc Rivers: Clippers' core at risk of growing 'stale'

Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Clippers have been anything but terrible during the Doc Rivers era.

But they have also experienced their fair share of failure and heartache in a brief time span.

While Rivers has been the Clippers' head coach for only two seasons, it sure seems longer than that - a function of the long, dramatic nature of the past couple of years, no doubt.

Entering his third campaign as the Clips' bench boss, Rivers believes that even elite teams are susceptible to finite shelf lives.

"I’m a believer that teams can get stale," Rivers told Grantland's Zach Lowe.

"After a while, you don’t win. It just doesn’t work."

Rivers, who played for the Clippers in 1991-92, knows all too well how taxing and detrimental losing a close game or series can be on the sometimes fragile psyches of professional athletes.

As a player, he was part of several strong Atlanta Hawks squads which made it to the playoffs six times throughout his eight seasons as Dominique Wilkins' running mate. However, he never made it past the second round as a Hawk.

As a member of the New York Knicks, Rivers reached the 1994 NBA Finals, where his team gave up a 3-2 series lead as their championship hopes slipped away, losing to the Houston Rockets by six points in Game 7.

Twenty-one years later, in a cruel twist of fate, Rivers and his No. 3 seed Clippers would become the Rockets' victims, blowing a 3-1 series lead in the second round.

After some collective soul-searching, retaining DeAndre Jordan, and bolstering a fatally flawed roster over the summer, Rivers is approaching his third go-around on the Staples Center sidelines with cautious optimism.

"I believe we’re gonna be really good," he stated. "But if we’re not, it depends on how we play, and what the reason is. That’s what would make you make a big decision."

That "big decision" could possibly manifest itself in the deconstruction of the Clippers' roster - something a deep playoff run or NBA title would almost certainly negate.

But hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy is easier said than done, and Rivers acknowledged that external factors often play a part in reaching such heights.

"You need luck in the West," he said. "Look at Golden State. They didn’t have to play us or the Spurs. But that’s also a lesson for us: When you have a chance to close, you have to do it."

The 2015-16 season will provide Rivers' latest ensemble with yet another opportunity to take advantage of its limited championship window - an urgent mission he feels his team shares with other top-tier squads.

Related: Clippers' championship window may be smaller than it appears

"We’re right at the edge," Rivers said. "Oklahoma City is on the edge. Memphis, too. We just have to accept it."

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