National Basketball Association

Report: Rivers tried to fight Rondo

Published Jun. 22, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

By now you have probably heard all about the rumored deal between the Celtics and the Clippers that would allow Doc Rivers to leave Boston and move on to coach in Los Angeles.

The situation seems to be getting messier by the day. The deal reportedly died on Monday, then resurrected itself later in the week, only to die again on Friday. But wait! Talks just might come back from the dead again on Monday. If you didn't believe in zombies before reading these reports, you should now.

Rivers' motivation commonly has been interpreted as a desire to coach a team with an opportunity to win a championship. Boston is moving on from its Big 3 era, and Rivers reportedly has been tentative to coach a rebuilding team.

Well, not so fast. Chris Sheridan is reporting another reason why Rivers wants out of Boston — and it has more than a little to do with Rajon Rondo, the Celtics' fiery point guard.

Rondo and Rivers have had their ups and downs over the years, and things reportedly came to a head this past season when Rondo dropped an F-bomb on his coach during a team meeting. Rivers apparently lost his cool and had to be restrained from physically fighting the 27-year-old.

Sheridan talked about the situation in a recent radio interview. Listen below at about the 18-minute mark.

If that's how tense things are between Rivers and his star player, it should come as no surprise that Rivers wants out. Would you want to coach somebody that you were constantly thinking about punching?

If Rivers does end up coming back to Boston, which is looking more and more unlikely, there may be only one way to solve his dispute with Rondo: a pay-per-view MMA fight between the two.

Now that would be must-see TV. I don't know about you, but I'm taking Doc.