LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Clippers are planning on a full rebuild of the team after failing to make it out of the 2nd Round again behind the core of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, with head coach Doc Rivers reportedly pushing the front office to build the team around his son, Austin, and the family’s dog, Mittens.
“Austin is like a coach on the floor out there for me,” said Doc. “And you can’t find anyone more enthusiastic than Mittens. He just loves basketball. Really, he loves everything. He’s a good dog. A very good dog.”
If the Clippers do end up building around Austin and Mittens, it would leave the team in need of size, as Austin is a 6-foot-4 point guard and Mittens is a 17-inch Yorkshire Terrier. But Doc Rivers believes going smaller could help the Clippers stand out from the rest of the Western Conference.
“Mittens is small, but he’s quick,” said the head coach. “He took my slipper the other day and I couldn’t get it back until he got bored with playing the game. He won. We need a proven winner like Mittens on this team.”
Austin says he would love to play with his dog.
“Mittens is the kind of dog everybody would want on their team,” he said. “When I have a bad game, he’s always there for me. So he’s there for me after almost every game.”
