After making comments regarding Kevin Durant, it’s safe to say that LA Clippers’ head coach Doc Rivers and Paul Pierce are rooting for the Cavs in The NBA Finals.
With an entire week of no basketball, players and coaches have ample time to speculate about The NBA Finals. Everyone in the NBA community has been commenting about it, arguing about it, and even taking shots at opposing camps. Two members of the LA Clippers this season even chirped in. One common topic of discussion, still, is Kevin Durant‘s decision to join the Golden State Warriors.
Indeed it was a controversial decision, and caught everybody by surprise last summer when he left OKC to sign with the Warriors during free agency. The man left the only team he’s ever known, and joined the team that just beat him, thus creating a superteam with 3 other All-Stars. This reintroduced the argument about superteams. Is it fair to other teams? Are they destroying parity in the league?
To make things better, this year’s Finals match-up is between two superteams: Golden State and Cleveland, though the former was more organic.
Everyone wants to put their two cents in, including Paul Pierce and Doc Rivers.
Paul Pierce was recently on ESPN’s “The Jump” and commented on KD’s decision. Surprisingly, he doesn’t exactly agree with it. Pierce compared KD joining the Warriors to a child teaming up with his bullies.
Paul Pierce compares Kevin Durant joining Warriors to a kid becoming friends with his bullies to avoid getting beat up. pic.twitter.com/00U8c5sTW0
— Jordan Heck (@JordanHeckFF) May 30, 2017
Similarly, Doc Rivers took an opposing stance. He was on ESPN’s Mike & Mike on Tuesday and voiced his opinion:
"It is tough when you see a guy join a team – in Durant’s case what he did this year. That was tough for anybody, anybody’s that competitive, to watch. He lost, and then he joined. Having said that, it was his choice, I have no problem with him, but it’s something from a competitive standpoint, you would think you wouldn’t do."
The Irony
However, what Pierce and Rivers said is a bit contradictory. After all, the two won a championship in Boston with a manufactured superteam (Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo). Many don’t think they have the right to talk bad about superteams or KD’s decision. But on the other hand, this is slightly different due to the fact that KD left for the team that beat him. What do you think Clipperholics readers? Let us know in the comments!