The matchup between the Clippers and Warriors is the rare first round playoff series that will feature a battle between two very good teams that don’t at all seem to like each other.
There have been multiple incidents this season -- dust-ups, verbal jabs, and postgame confrontations. And now we have words being exchanged through the media before the series has even begun.
It began with Klay Thompson discussing the flopping tendencies of Blake Griffin. This is not news, really, as it’s widely accepted that Griffin’s style of play includes some additional flailing and exaggerating of contact, and in speaking with him in the past, he feels he has no choice given how physical other teams have historically played against him, while much of the contact he receives goes unnoticed by the officials.
But players typically don’t go there, especially not right before what’s likely to be a long playoff series is about to get started. Clippers coach Doc Rivers essentially laughed off Thompson’s remark, while encouraging his star to continue to flop if that’s even slightly contributed to this season’s success.
From Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles:Two days after Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson called out Clippers star Blake Griffin for flopping and playing out of control, L.A. coach Doc Rivers said he wants Griffin to keep doing what he’s been doing this season, even if that includes flopping.
“That’s Klay’s opinion; I don’t really care,” Rivers said Friday. “I just keep looking at what Blake’s done. If he’s flopping, then keep doing it because those numbers look awful good to me. So flop on. That’s the way I look at it. Whatever he’s done this year, I want him to keep doing exactly that. When the votes come for MVP, he’ll be in the top three.
“I’m good with anything anybody says. Blake, you just keep doing what you’re doing. What’s happening is Blake is kicking a lot of people’s butts and they need something to say about him.”
Warriors coach Mark Jackson chimed in as well, and fired a shot at J.J. Redick after he was informed of something Redick said that was likely misinterpreted.From Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com:
“If Klay guards Chris [Paul], Chris is going to be in about 4,200 pick-and-rolls a game,” Redick said. “We want Klay to be in those pick-and-rolls. Klay and Andre [Iguodala] are great defenders, so as much as we can wear those guys down, that would be great.”
Told of Redick’s comments, Jackson took the opportunity to praise Paul, a perennial All-Star, before firing a salvo in Redick’s direction.
“Chris Paul’s a heck of a player, future Hall of Famer,” Jackson said. “He’s an all-time great. I’m not sitting there saying we have a Chris Paul stopper, so it really doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, he’s going to create challenges. Not as many as if J.J. Redick was guarding him, but he’s going to create some challenges for our defense and any defense.”It’s doubtful that when Jackson was asked about Redick’s remarks that he was told of the part where Redick said “Klay and Andre are great defenders.” But his willingness to engage and fire back just shows once more how little these teams like each other.