Doc Rivers and Mark Cuban are still fighting about DeAndre Jordan

Rivers fired the first shot on a radio appearance in Colin Cowherd’s show, saying that Cuban was “acting silly” by criticizing Jordan after courting him so hard.

“Look at the difference,” Rivers said, according to Mavs Moneyball. “I coached DJ. DJ didn’t call me when he left. Did you see me out in front of the cameras screaming and yelling and crying. I didn’t do that. I was disappointed internally and I handled it that way. Mark tends to do things out in the open and that’s fine. . . . When you take shots at DJ, the guy you loved two days ago and now you don’t like so much anymore, all that did is tell DJ even more that he made the right choice.”

Rivers doesn’t really handle all his gripes internally, but he is notorious for defending his players, so he was bound to take exception.

Of course, Cuban was not going to remain quiet after that. He went after Rivers on the same show only a couple of days later.

“He (Rivers) obviously didn’t actually hear or see what I said. I didn’t say a whole lot. I responded to DJ’s Twitter apology and that’s pretty much it. I haven’t said a whole lot about it so I don’t know where he’s getting what he’s got. But I think the most interesting thing is, it shows you what someone will do when their entire future is vanishing in front of them and that’s exactly what Doc did and I give him credit for it. His professional life was over if he didn’t get DJ. His back was against the wall and he did what he needed to do. More power to him.”

Ah, the old fake compliment technique. Cuban is a veteran with more than a few feuds under his belt. He knows how to get under someone’s skin.

It worked, too. Rivers has responded and it’s obvious he’s not happy.

“I’ll say this,” Rivers told The Orange County Register. “I’m so grateful to work for a team owned by Steve Ballmer, someone who stands for character and substance and who is so loyal. He is someone who I know will stand with me, even when things aren’t always going our way. I think what happened with D.J. was he decided to choose substance and character over smoke and mirrors.”

Note the two mentions of character and substance, followed by the finishing touch in which he calls the Mavericks’ pitch “smoke and mirrors.” Doc is not backing down.

Now, we’ll have to wait to see if Cuban responds, possibly by saying the Clippers broke the rules in their negotiation with Jordan.

The Mavericks will play the Clippers in Dallas on Nov. 11, but somehow we have the feeling that the feud will have a few more chapters before then.