Yes. He took a lot of flack for having the balls to leave Boston for a better situation and now he looks like a Genius. He'll be there next year too, contributing again.
He said Doc quit on the organization multiple times.Before this Doc to LA thing even had legs he's been very critical of Rivers. That's kinda his deal in a sense. If he wants to pencil whip guys with his opinions,that's his right.The people who employ him nationally give him that forum. I'm just saying in general, its been obvious from go that Simmons have never liked rivers. In the grand scheme of basketball, way more people respect rivers and his accomplishment over simmons.
K True. Simmons is a writer that gets paid to stir up controversy. But he comes off immature and emotional. For a WRITER to say a well respected coach and NBA champion quit is without knowing all the things that tranpired behind closed doors is foolish. Again, its speaks to Simmons immaturity. He's an idiot writer that exposed his lack of basketball knowledge.
When did Simmons say Rivers quit on the team before this Clippers thing broke out? I haven't read everything Simmons wrote on Rivers and would appreciate a link to such an article, blog post or tweet.
Bill is pissed about that trade. Celtics refused to let Brooklyn talk to Doc earlier in the offseason, which would make it seem like Boston was fine keeping Doc.
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LOL. I wish he gets fired. He would get scoop up either by TNT or Yahoo Sports with the quickness. Imagine him with Barkley on TV or with Woj on Yahoo. Powerhouse media personalities.
Simmons is definitely immature at times and can be an idiot... but lack of basketball knowledge? No, that man is one of the most passionate defenders of the game and knows his basketball. Honestly, Rivers and Simmons both come out looking like idiots from this feud.
I like Bill Simmons. The fact he isn't afraid to offend NBA players or coaches puts him on a higher level than hacks like Jalen Rose, who I wish would just disappear from TV. Simmons is taking this thing with Doc pretty far (maybe too far) but I'm OK with it. He is so refreshingly different from the other ESPN guys it's hard for me not to like him. Whether you love or dislike Doc, he has clearly diminished himself. My opinion of him has definitely changed for the worse. He should have owned up like many here have said but now he's backed himself into a corner. The "I would like to call [Bill Simmons] an idiot, but I'm too classy for that" comment is pure, indefensible trash. Totally awesome! This is almost too perfect to be true. They deserve each other. May the fireworks continue indefinitely!
The truth hurts. Sam Presti royally blew it. If the Rockets sign Dwight, it will be agony for OKC fans whenever the Rockets play (and beat) OKC, especially if they meet in the playoffs again. Simmons won't be the only one harping on it. If you don't like what he's saying or if he's picking on someone a you like, Simmons can be really annoying.
I am with Simmons on this too Doc came off as a huge douche with his comments. He could have said Bill has a right to his opinion but this is not a case of me quitting on the Celtics. Simmons is also right about the Harden deal. Presti panicked when Harden turned down the contract offer and he destroyed any chance the Thunder had of winning the title this year.
I'm not saying a coach can win without great players, but the point is Rivers was a nobody before the celtics took him up. He was the coach of the Magic when they got the worst record in the league, Celts got him to coach the most veteran team ever with KG, Pierce and Allen and gave him a fat contract for basically just sitting on his ass all day long and he repays them by leaving the team and going to another contender. When players leave their team you can sort of understand it, they only have 10-15 playing years and if they don't leave a bad team, then they might end up not having any legacy to leave behind. With coaches though, you can pretty much coach as long as you like, Adelman is like 80 years old and is still regarded as a top coach in the league. What Rivers essentially did is quitting on Boston, after the team made him one of the top coaches in the league and gave him salary far above his market value. Simmons is right to rip him apart, I know CP3 will expose him in a couple of years.
Doc Rivers was Coach of the Year in 2000. Dude took a team with 4 undrafted starters to a record of 41-41. He coached the Magic to the playoffs each season after his first until the disastrous season when he was fired after a 1-10 start. He was anything but a nobody. He did what he was supposed to do when he got a roster of great players. He won.
Simmons wrote this in his new Grantland article. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9521103/the-nba-midnight-run-part-1 Could this go to anyone other than Doc and the Celtics? This sordid mess ended up working out: Brad Stevens is the right coach for this Celtics team, and the Clippers are the right fit for Doc. But if you think the Celtics were happy with how this Doc saga played out — or any insinuation that one of the league's most lavish franchises wanted to lose a top-five coach just to save a few bucks (and not because they didn't want to pay $7 million a year to someone who didn't want to be there anymore) — please note that they took out a full-page Boston Globe ad earlier this month thanking Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. We're still waiting on the full-page ad for Doc.18 The day after we exchanged barbs during the NBA draft, Doc and I talked for 45 minutes on the phone and agreed to disagree on how the Boston thing ended. He truly believes the Celtics didn't want him to come back or pay him all that money as they were rebuilding. I don't buy it, as I told him — I thought that they didn't want to pay him that money once they believed he didn't want to be there. Also, I told him that I thought he didn't want to rebuild for a third time, and that the thought of coaching a contender and starting fresh in Los Angeles — where he gets to pick his own players, no less — was overwhelmingly enticing for him. He actually agreed with that. He just doesn't think he quit on the Celtics — he thinks the situation ran its course. So it's a he-said, he-said thing. We're never going to agree on what happened, but one thing is clear: In the long run, both sides are better off.
