Klay Thompson Calls Doc Rivers Bitter

As noted by the LA Times, Doc Rivers told Grantland in a recent interview that, "You need luck in the West." In describing the playoff reality, that's definitely true and no one would disagree. However, Doc spiced up the conversation by adding the example that "Look at Golden State. They didn't have to play us or the Spurs." That view is definitely debatable. For example, Klay Thompson did not take kindly to the Warriors being used as an example. When asked about Doc's comments,

"Didn't they lose to the Rockets?" Thompson said. "So that just makes me laugh. That's funny. Weren't they up, 3-1, too? Tell them I said that too."

He further added that

"If we got lucky, look at our record against them last year," Thompson said. I'm pretty sure we smacked them."

In all, it does seem each side has some points. The Western Conference is a messy field and it does take some luck in the West. Injuries would be the easiest example, but playoff match ups can be too. Yet the latter is always a touchier topic because no team wants to be told that their hard earned championship wasn't the pure byproduct of hard work. Indeed, it's probably unwise to tell a team that they're lucky to have won a title after your team chokes a a 3-1 lead in the playoffs to prevent a match up between the two.

The Los Angeles Clippers will face the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, October 20th for a home preseason game. Their first regular season meeting will be in Oakland on Wednesday, November 4th.