Remember, when Paul left the Clippers last year ... he did an interview with Jay-Z and took a shot at the "culture" of the team, saying they weren't really trying to contend with the Warriors.

Doc took exception and fired back, "Listen, when you leave, you should just leave, honestly."

"I don’t think you have to try to burn the house down or justify why you left. That’s what I would say to it. I like our culture."

Now that some time has passed, we had to ask Doc how he felt about CP3 making his first conference finals -- and Rivers was nothing but supportive.

We also spoke about LeBron's historic playoff run -- and Rivers told us there is ANOTHER superstar who still may have the top spot when it comes to all-time great performances.