Klay Thompson fires shots at Clippers: ‘Didn’t they lose to the Rockets?’
If the nuclear warheads for the Warriors-Clippers rivalry hadn’t been launched already, they sure as hell are airborne now.
In a Lob City-themed piece by Grantland’s Zach Lowe that ran earlier this week, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers made an off-hand remark about the role that luck played in the Dubs winning the 2015 NBA Championship. “You need luck in the West,” Rivers was quoted as saying. “Look at Golden State. They didn’t have to play us or the Spurs. But that’s also a lesson for us: When you have a chance to close, you have to do it.”
Now Rivers wasn’t trying to say that the Warriors didn’t deserve to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy last season. Instead he was commenting on how luck and the right breaks factor heavily into any championship run, especially in the modern Western Conference where success is based almost entirely on matchups and injury luck.
Still, Rivers’ words didn’t go down too well with Warriors guard Klay Thompson, who fired back at Rivers and the Clippers with a series of zingers as quoted by Ethan Strauss of ESPN.
Klay: "I wanted to play the Clippers last year, but they couldn't handle their business"
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) October 9, 2015
Klay on Doc Rivers: "If we got lucky, look at our record against them last year. I'm pretty sure we smacked them."
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) October 9, 2015
Klay on Clips: “Didn’t they lose to the Rockets? So, that just makes me laugh. That’s funny. Weren’t they up 3-1 too? Tell em I said that"
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) October 9, 2015
*Drops mic*
And of course, it wouldn’t be a Warriors-Clippers shade-throwing contest without Andrew Bogut tossing his two cents into the ring as well.
"I've got my ring fitted for my middle finger"- Bogut on KNBR talking about the Clippers/Rockets hating
— warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) October 9, 2015
As the Warriors look to defend their title heading into the 2015-16 campaign and the Clippers with a revamped bench featuring world-class trash talkers Lance Stephenson and Paul Pierce, I can’t be the only one counting down the days to the first Warriors-Clippers regular season matchup on November 4.
H/T SB Nation
