Doc Rivers, left, is impressed with Lakers fan base/Staff photo by David Crane

Doc Rivers on Monday night paid the Lakers and their fans quite a compliment. Rivers on Sunday went to Staples Center as a fan to watch his son Austin toil for the New Orleans Pelicans against the Lakers. Austin Rivers is a reserve guard for New Orleans.

As Doc Rivers played host to reporters in his pre-game news conference Monday ahead of the Clippers’ game against the Phoenix Suns, he was asked how he was treated by Lakers fans.

“They were very nice last night, they were very good,” he said, smiling. Rivers then discussed what he though about the turnout of 18,997.

“I’ll say this, one of the things I was impressed with was how crowded it was,” Rivers said. “Really, when you have the record that they have, it says a lot about their fan base and their loyalty. And I thought that was impressive. I went through that in Boston and I was always amazed how crowded it was every night. Celtics fans showed up every night, whether we were winning or losing.

“And the Lakers fans are doing that, too, and there are not a lot of fan bases in our league – or in any league, for that matter – that would do that. And I think that’s something that we’d love to be able to achieve some day. I don’t want to do that part of losing to find out, but I thought that was really impressive.”