LOS ANGELES — As if Doc Rivers didn’t have enough on-the-court issues to deal with — his Clippers got thumped by the Cavaliers Sunday and now head out on a road trip that includes the Spurs and Warriors — he had the arrest of one of his players to deal with Sunday.
Clipper rookie Branden Dawson, who spent most of the season in the D-League, was arrested Sunday morning on charges of felony domestic abuse. Rivers said it was too soon to know what they Clippers would do about it.
“Obviously, it’s an awful situation as far as I’m concerned, I have a daughter,” Doc Rivers said after his team got crushed by the Cavaliers Sunday. “It’s a terrible situation, but we’ll figure out what we want to do and how we want to handle it.”
When pressed on it, noting other teams have suspended players, Rivers said it was simply too early to say how the team would respond.
Dawson was arrested at 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning and was not with the team when they faced the Cavs as he was still in jail until after tip-off. He did not come to the arena.
The Clippers selected Dawson in the second round of the 2015 draft out of Michigan State. He has a non-guaranteed contract for next season with the Clippers.