Doc on CP3 relationship: 'We had more good days than bad'

The Los Angeles Clippers' bygone Lob City era was equal parts breathtaking basketball and inane high school drama.

Reports of conflict between Doc Rivers, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and the periphery characters dominated headlines for the better part of three years before the Clippers reached their breaking point. They swatted those rumors at every turn, but tension continued to hang over the franchise.

Rivers confirmed as much in the wake of Paul's move to the Houston Rockets. There were some disagreements in the locker room with he and Paul, but he attributed that to the realities of coaching.

"Our relationship was fine," Rivers told Marc Spears of the Undefeated. "We had more good days than bad. Chris’ numbers were the best in his career under me. But I still coached him. That’s what I do. I thought Chris handled it fine."

Rivers added that he and Paul didn't always see eye-to-eye, but the tension did drive Paul to be a better point guard.

"Did he love me every day? No. But that’s part of my job as a coach. My job is to make you a better player and push you. A lot of guys handle it and some don’t. I thought that Chris handled it well."

A recent report suggested that Paul and Rivers' relationship deteriorated over Doc's preferential treatment of his son Austin, but all three characters have unequivocally denied that rumor. Doc told Spears that the report wasn't true and wasn't worth discussing.

Rivers is hoping to move forward with a revamped Clippers team that isn't as reliant on one floor general, as it was previously with Paul.

"Losing Chris is tough, because he is a great player. But we have a lot of great players on our team that play so many different ways. That is why ‘Gallo’ is so important to us because our thought was that if you’re not going to run a point guard-dominated offense, then you got to run a movement offense with versatility. And I think we’ve accomplished that."