Glen Davis isn’t winning any friends in the locker room in LA according to ESPN. During yesterday’s game against the Houston Rockets, Clippers coach Doc Rivers had Davis removed from the bench for the rest of game because of disciplinary issues. It seems Davis and Rivers exchanged words and assistant coach Alvin Gentry attempted to calm Davis down. Rivers felt it was passed the point of excusing so he told team security to escort Davis back to the locker room.
“Nothing went on with me,” Rivers said after the game. “I thought Baby was just too emotional, and for me, if you’re too emotional I always send you back to the locker room and keep you back there until the next game. I love Baby. I just didn’t think emotionally he was ready to play tonight, so we told him to go to the locker room.”
“No, I haven’t, but I’ve talked about emotional hijacks,” Rivers said. “If you have one, I’ll send you back. We’ve talked about that as a group. I didn’t make a big deal, didn’t address it halftime and it’s not a big deal. We needed him tonight, but he wasn’t here emotionally, so you tell him to go and sit.”
“No, we’re not going to get into the whole Baby thing; this has not been building,” Rivers said. “He was emotional tonight, and we told him to go sit down. I just thought he was a distraction, and when guys are a distraction, I don’t think they should be on the bench. If you’re a distraction for anybody on the bench that should be paying attention to the game, then go sit in the back so our guys can watch the game.”
Rivers was Davis’ coach for his first four NBA seasons with the Celtics, so he’s dealt with his emotional outbursts before, but this is the first time he drew the line and sent him back to the locker room.
