Warriors' Bogut on Kyrie Irving's injury talk: 'I don't know what it does for them'
It's not necessarily the form of postseason trash talk that constitutes bulletin board material, but Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut has raised some eyebrows nonetheless.
With Kyrie Irving's knee tendinitis and the Cleveland Cavaliers' general injury issues making news, Bogut wondered what the point of all the attention was, particularly in regards to Irving's knee.
"I don't know what it does for them or what they're trying to do with it," Bogut told Northeast Ohio Media Group's Chris Haynes of the Cavs' injury talk. "We're not really worried about it. We've got guys banged up. They've got guys banged up. We'll be ready to go."
Irving, who has been limited by knee and foot issues throughout the postseason, said earlier this week that while he will be in the lineup, only a miracle would help him get to 100 percent.
"There's probably 15 guys on this team that's carrying an injury right now," Bogut said of the Warriors, who cleared Klay Thompson of a concussion on Tuesday. "There are probably 15 guys on their team that's carrying an injury. We're not going to release everything. You don't want to release some stuff. (Injuries) are a part of the game. If you get to this point in the season, you're going to have tendinitis, arthritis and contusions. You're going to have your body hurting."
Irving's ailing knee caused him to miss two games during Cleveland's four-game sweep of top-seeded Atlanta in the Eastern Conference Finals, and the team has been without Kevin Love since the star big man suffered a season-ending shoulder injury at the hands of Boston Celtics sophomore Kelly Olynyk at the conclusion of the first round.
On Monday, LeBron James, who appeared to be dealing with a knee issue during the East Final, told reporters that he's still dealing with a sprained right wrist, which kept him out of a game in late January.
As for the Warriors, Thompson suffered a concussion as a result of a Trevor Ariza knee to the head during Golden State's West-clinching Game 5 win over the Houston Rockets last week, a game after MVP Stephen Curry avoided injury despite a frightening, head-first fall.
The Warriors will also get reserve big man Marreese Speights back for The Finals after a calf strain suffered during the second round sidelined him for nearly four weeks.