Doc Rivers: 'Luck' comments towards Warriors were 'worded wrongly'
Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers' recent comments about needing "luck" to win the NBA championship elicited quite the negative reaction out of several Golden State Warriors players.
"You need luck in the West," Rivers said to Grantland's Zach Lowe. "Look at Golden State. They didn't have to play us or the (San Antonio) Spurs."
When made aware of Rivers' point of view, Warriors sharpshooter Klay Thompson responded with some verbal jabs at his Western Conference rivals:
Klay: "I wanted to play the Clippers last year, but they couldn't handle their business"
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) October 9, 2015
Klay Thompson: "If we got lucky, look at our record against them last year. I'm pretty sure we smacked them."
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) October 9, 2015
Rivers elaborated on his remarks Saturday, mentioning how the Warriors were given an inaccurate summary of what he said.
"I'm going to give Klay and his whole team the benefit of the doubt on that," Rivers said, per ESPN.com. "What I said is true - not the way it was said to them. I never said the Warriors were lucky. That's unrepresentative of what I said. I said you have to be lucky to win. It's a completely different way."
While he can appreciate how upset his commentary made the defending champions, Rivers won't allow the Warriors' harsh reaction to bother him in any way.
"I actually referenced my team when we won it. ... You have to have luck to win," Rivers added. "Now, clearly, it bothers them for whatever reason. That part I could care less about. But it was worded wrongly to them. If someone had said we were lucky in Boston, I'd have been upset, too. I get that."
The Warriors advanced to the NBA Finals following series victories over the New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies, and Houston Rockets before defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games to capture the franchise's first title in 40 years.
Golden State fell to the Clippers in the opening round the previous year in a hard-fought, seven-game series. A rematch never came to fruition, though, with Los Angeles blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Rockets in the semifinals this year.