The “Lob City” era of the Los Angeles Clippers was supposed to be a dynasty. With Chris Paul orchestrating, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan finishing lobs, and a strong supporting cast of shooters and veterans, the Clippers were perennial contenders in the mid-2010s. Yet despite the talent, the team never advanced past the second round of the playoffs.
Now, years later, former Clippers forward Matt Barnes has offered his perspective on what went wrong, and his answer is blunt.
On the Club 520 Podcast, Barnes revealed that head coach and executive Doc Rivers’ decision to bring in his son, Austin Rivers, and pay him more than established veterans like Jamal Crawford and JJ Redick, created a rift in the locker room.
“He brought his son over, and it was just some weird energy there,” Barnes said. “He paid his son. I’m not even mad. If I was in the position, I’d pay the sh*t out of my son, too. But people don’t understand at the time what that did to people. I mean, he was making more than me, Jamal [Crawford], JJ [Redick] – like guys that were putting in real minutes, you know what I mean? Playing in crunch time. And it kind of had people looking at him funny… when the son came, the energy with that; like guys weren’t really off that.”
Austin Rivers joined the Clippers in 2015 after a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans. While he provided solid minutes as a combo guard, his presence under his father’s leadership was always a point of contention. Barnes’ comments suggest that the issue wasn’t Austin’s talent, but the perception of favoritism and the financial commitment made to him.
Austin signed a two-year, $6.4 million deal in 2015, followed by a three-year, $35.4 million contract in 2016. For role players like Barnes, Crawford, and Redick, who were logging heavy minutes and producing consistently, seeing Rivers earn more money created tension that lingered.
The Clippers of that era were loaded with talent but plagued by internal drama. Injuries, playoff collapses, and locker room friction all contributed to their inability to break through. Barnes’ comments add another layer to the story: that trust and chemistry were eroded not just by results on the court, but by decisions off it.
In hindsight, the Lob City Clippers remain one of the NBA’s greatest “what if” teams. And according to Barnes, the seeds of their downfall may have been sown not in a playoff series, but in the front office, when a father’s decision to take care of his son shifted the energy of an entire locker room.
