Did DUers know that Doc Rivers' (Clippers Coach) home was burned to the ground
by racist youngsters who invaded, partied and then lit his home on fire because he has an inter-racial marriage.
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IT WAS SUPPOSED to be one of those carefree late June mornings for Doc Rivers. With his first season as TNT's NBA analyst under his belt, Rivers was on a golf course in Seattle playing in a charity tournament. His wife, Kris, and their four young children, were in Milwaukee visiting relatives. Rivers was looking forward to joining them to begin a family vacation. Rivers was on the green, joking with his companions, when a man approached him. "I'm looking for Doc Rivers," the man said. "That's me," Rivers replied. "Your house is on fire," the man said. "I thought he was kidding me," Rivers recalled the other day. "He said he was serious and I had to go with him. I jumped in the car and asked him how bad the fire was. He told me the police in San Antonio said, 'The house is gone.
' " A few hours before Rivers got word, his friend, R.
C. Buford, a scout for the Spurs, was also on a golf course when he heard the news. Buford immediately raced to Rivers' home in Shavano, an exclusive community outside San Antonio. Buford kept thinking what he would try to save if his own house was on fire. Arriving at Rivers' house where Doc had settled after finishing his 12-year NBA career with the Spurs Buford ran in and gathered pictures of the Rivers children. He also saved Doc's collection of Muhammad Ali memorabilia. Buford knew Ali was the only sports idol Rivers ever had. Left behind was a life full of basketball memories, scrapbooks, high school jerseys, a Knicks jersey and NBA All-Star ring. That evening, Buford picked up Rivers at the San Antonio airport. "When I pulled up to the house I really didn't have a thought," Rivers said. "I just saw my house gutted. Then I thought about my dog Ginger. My wife gave the dog to me before the first game of my rookie year (in 1983). Later, they found the dog dead in the rubble. Everything else in that house was just stuff. The clothes, the furniture. I lost everything.
" Insurance would take care of that, but it couldn't erase something that will always haunt Rivers. "It's the fact that someone had done this to my family. That's what has affected me the most," he said. "I felt violated.
" The police told Rivers it was definitely arson. They suspect a group of teenagers from the neighborhood broke into the house, had a party, then torched it. Yet the cops have fingerprints from the house, and believe they know the suspects. "
The cops) have fingerprinted the suspects, but the prints haven't come back yet," Rivers said. "They should know within a month. If they match, I will use every tool I can to prosecute. I honestly hope it's who they think it is because I want to go after them. I want to go after these kids. And if the parents are going to protect them, I want to go after the parents, too.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/sports/rivers-burns-article-1.776410#ixzz30IRn63Os
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That is wrenching. Damned racists.
This makes me so angry.
