In Game 4 of their series against the Warriors yesterday, the Clippers players dumped their warm-up jackets at midcourt, turned their warm-up shirt inside-out and wore black socks and armbands in an apparent protest of Donald Sterling.
Game 5 is tomorrow, and more protests could be coming.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports:
A lot of people called for the Clippers to wear not just logo-less warm-up shirts, but logo-less jerseys during the game. I questioned the feasibility of doing that on the road and on such short notice. But with time to prepare, maybe that’s in store tomorrow.
It sounds as if Doc Rivers wouldn’t love that, given his comments yesterday.
Doc on Clippers black armbands and protest: "Wasn't thrilled about it but if that's what they want to do, that's what they want to do."
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) April 27, 2014
I believe Rivers’ players respect his viewpoint, but these aren’t ordinary times.
Chris Paul on homecourt Tue.: "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about what it's going to be like. You just never know. It's tough."
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) April 27, 2014
Rivers has already expressed his concern the players were distracted by all this, and if they’re plotting a Game 5 protest, those concerns won’t end. But some things are worth being distracted by.