Doc Rivers: Others’ perception doesn’t matter as long as Clippers win

The Clippers may be the team everyone loves to hate in the NBA. They whine too much. They complain too much. They foul too much. They complain about being fouled. They get too many technical fouls. They flop too much.

That’s the perception of them -- but, according to Clippers Coach Doc Rivers, none of that matters so long as one thing happens.

“Not if you’re winning,” Rivers said. “If you’re losing, it’s something for someone to talk about. If you’re winning, I don’t think a lot of people talk about it. I’ve been on teams that have done it, that haven’t done it, and it all comes down to winning and losing.”

In a Bleacher Report story released Tuesday, the website cites an unnamed veteran NBA coach saying that the Clippers are “the most hated team by far.”

According to the story, which cites Nylon Calculus, the Clippers have been assessed the most technical fouls in the league (146) since Clippers Coach Doc Rivers took over at helm in 2013-14.

So far this season, Blake Griffin is tied for having the most technical fouls in the league (seven), and DeAndre Jordan is in a four-way tie for second (six). Griffin and Paul are often thought of as flopping offenders, and the whole team is thought of as big complainers.

Rivers, however, points out that they may be complaining for a reason.

After the Clippers’ 100-99 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, the league acknowledged botching three calls in the final two minutes of that game.

“On all three, you see me complaining about it,” Rivers said. “That’s where they say, ‘You’re complaining.’ Sometimes as a coach, I think that’s your job. I got yelled at by our official in the first half about complaining about the charge I was right on. I don’t know what you’re supposed to do as a coach, don’t say anything or say something. I don’t think anyone is trying to make mistakes or anything like that; it’s a hard game to ref.”

As for Griffin, he’s famous for enduring hard fouls -- and not retaliating. After Robin Lopez clotheslined Griffin in 2012, Lakers’ superstar Kobe Bryant said he would have responded with force.

“I’d smack the ... out of somebody,” Bryant told ESPNLosAngeles.com in 2012. “I’ve known him for a while and he’s a really nice guy, so I don’t know if he’d want to do that. But I would. I would’ve done it early in the year.”

Right or wrong, loved or hated, correct perception or misperception, according to Paul, what people think about him -- or any of his teammates, for that matter -- is pretty unimportant.

“I don’t play for anybody to like me,” Paul told Bleacher Report.