Doc Rivers is a proud Chicagoan — born in the city, raised and played his high school ball and became an All-American at Proviso East in Maywood, a town in Cook County that is part of the Chicago metropolitan area.
Rivers was back in his hometown over the weekend as his Bucks played the Bulls in a preseason game, and like most Chicagoans, he was angered by the presence of ICE agents and the attempt to bring in federalized National Guard troops to the city. There have been protests in the streets and in the courts about their presence. Rivers went on a pre-game rant about it, as reported by Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
“It bothers me,” Rivers said. “I’m trying, I’m trying; I mean, it’s just awful what you watch and see, people getting zip tied. I mean, that’s not this country. That’s not what we’re about …
“I think every American is good with, if there’s criminals on the street, we want to arrest the criminals. My dad was a cop for Christ’s sakes. My dad would not be proud of this. I know that. My dad would have a major problem; I couldn’t imagine my dad going to work right now and have to protect ICE agents and doing what they’re doing. I couldn’t imagine him wanting to go to work. I think he’d call in sick.”
Maybe the most interesting part was Rivers pointing out the informational divide in the United States (something seen in the discussion around Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles and other cities the current administration has focused its attention on), as illustrated by a conversation he had with a couple in town supporting their daughter running the Chicago Marathon last weekend.
“The couple was so proud, and they were saying, ‘man, this is the best marathon, the city is amazing, I’ve never been to this city, wow,’” Rivers recounted. “And the dad says, ‘But we were so scared, we thought there was civil unrest everywhere.’ And he was like, ‘Where is it?’ It’s nowhere. It’s just sad. We hate it. We hate it. I’m from Chicago. I’m very prideful about this place, so I hate it …
“I’m going to say this the last time and then move back to basketball. This should be about the morality of our country and not about the race. This has nothing to do with Black and White. Black and White should be grabbing arms together on this one and fighting against this.”
The NBA has a long history of coaches speaking out on social issues, most legendarily former Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, but more recently the Warriors’ Steve Kerr. He is not alone, as the usually more mild-mannered Rivers showed.
