Jared Dudley’s time with the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2013-14 season did not go well. The forwards was unable to stay healthy and as such did not contribute to the team as much as coach and GM Doc Rivers had hoped. On Monday, Dudley and his new team, the Washington Wizards face the Clippers and the veteran was asked about what he thought of the time he spent playing in LA:
Dudley on year w/Clippers: "Fans probably look at me and say, ‘Hey, Jared was a failure.” Which is very true. I was at the time."
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgeccastillo) December 28, 2015
Clearly, Dudley was not the role player that the Clippers needed that year. That led to his immediate trade to the Milwaukee Bucks in the offseason. Clippers coach Doc Rivers was also asked about Dudley’s tenure with his team and had an interesting response:
Doc on how well Dudley is playing (paraphrasing): if he'd played that well in LA he's still be with them #WizardsTalk #NBA #WizClippers
— J. Michael (@JMichaelCSN) December 28, 2015
Certainly, Dudley was a disappointment in his lone year in LA. However, he is a proven rotation player who has had success in multiple locations both before and after playing for the Clippers. That is not to mention that he battled through injuries that entire year, negatively affecting his play on the court.
Rivers’ quote is interesting in that he seems to be making excuses for his own mistakes. The coach mishandled Dudley’s injury and gave up on him too soon (even trading a first round pick to sell him to the Bucks), when there was a whole resume of success with the veteran forward. In the end, it follows a troubling trend of Rivers making poor personnel decisions before thinking of some excuse. Unlike the coach, however, Dudley makes no excuses for his play.
