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Doc Rivers reveals Clippers consulted him before James Harden trade
Story by Tomer Azarly
INDIANAPOLIS, IN — When the LA Clippers traded for James Harden, there was
certainly a lot homework and calls put in before acquiring a player of his
caliber with the recent history he had been through. New Milwaukee Bucks head
coach Doc Rivers says he was one of them.
The Clippers' trade for James Harden shocked absolutely no one went it went
down the night of October 30th. After months of calling out the Sixers
publicly and repeatedly naming the Clippers as his desired destination,
Harden got what he wanted.
After a five-game losing streak with Harden, the trade has been a monumental
success. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George’s shooting efficiencies have taken
off with fewer on-ball responsibilities while James Harden has looked like
the perfect point guard alongside those two. Russell Westbrook, who lost his
starting job in the process, has embraced his role as a leader off the bench.
Speaking with ClutchPoints at NBA All-Star Weekend, Doc Rivers revealed that
the Clippers reached out and consulted him before completing the trade with
the Philadelphia 76ers.
“I was the one, obviously, they consulted,” Doc Rivers told ClutchPoints
before the Clippers acquired James Harden. “They made calls and I was one of
the guys who said it would be a great deal for them because I thought he fit
them better than he would fit the Sixers team. I think he’s a perfect fit
there.
It’s a league. We talk. They just talked, asked questions, and I was on
board early.”
河流表示快艇曾在交易James Harden前諮詢了自己，他說道：“顯然，我是他們曾諮詢過
的人，快艇方面給我打了電話，我是認為這對快艇是筆好交易的人之一。因為我認為
James Harden更適合快艇，而不是76人，我認為James Harden非常適合快艇。這是一個聯
盟，我們之間都會有交流。我只是和他們聊了聊，回答了些問題。”
It did take the Clippers several months to finally agree to terms on a trade
for the Sixers guard. After repeatedly calling out General Manger Daryl Morey
and the Philadelphia 76ers organization, it became clear the team would not
want to deal with this long. It felt like it was only a matter of time before
a deal was finalized, but there’s always the potential for a second or third
team to emerge as trade candidates.
When James Harden was finally traded to the Clippers, one of the more
resounding comments came during his introductory press conference in Los
Angeles.
“When I’m in a leash, [it doesn’t mean] I’m not just shooting the
basketball every time,” James Harden said. “I meant like I think the game
and I’m a creator on the court, you know what I mean? So if I got a voice to
where I can say, ‘hey, coach, I see this. What you think about this?’ Then
it’s like, okay. Somebody that trusts me, that believes in me, that
understands me, that I’m just not, I’m not a system player. I am a system.
You know what I mean? So somebody that can have that dialogue with me and
understand and move forward and figure out and make adjustments on the fly
throughout the course of games, that’s all I really care about. It’s not
about me scoring a basketball, scoring 34 points. I’ve done that already.”
When asked about those comments at All-Star Weekend and what he meant by
that, new Milwaukee Bucks Doc Rivers declined to even address the topic.
“Listen, that’s… I don’t coach James anymore,” Rivers countered to
ClutchPoints. “And I don’t need to answer any of those questions. That’s
whatever he wants that to mean. You should ask him. I’m not the one who said
it.”
James Harden在加盟快艇後的首次採訪中曾表示，76人教練組一直在嘗試改變他的角色，
並表態他就是體系，而不是體系球員。
對此，河流說道：“聽著，聽著，我已經不是James Harden的教練了，我不需要回答這些
問題，不管他想表達的是什麼意思，你應該去問他。這些話不是我說的
。”
Rivers did, however, provide Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue credit for
handling such a tough situation with the quartet of Kawhi Leonard, Paul
George, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook.
“He’s done a terrific job. Ty is obviously he’s a sensational coach. I
knew he was going to be. I’m the one who hired him. So every time I see him
do well, it makes me happy.”
談到了Lue，河流稱讚道：“Lue幹得很棒，顯然，他是一位非常有煽動力、懂得鼓舞球員
的教練。我知道他會成功的，是我雇的他，所以每次看到他幹得出色，我都很高興。”
11-12賽季，Lue加盟賽爾提克，首次擔任NBA球隊助教，河流當時是綠軍主帥。兩人還曾
在19-20賽季於快艇共事。
The Clippers are 36-17 this season, sitting at third in the West at the
All-Star break. They’re also 33-15 with James Harden this season, including
a stretch where they won 31-of-39 games.
Doc Rivers’ Milwaukee Bucks and James Harden’s LA Clippers have yet to play
each other this season. The first matchup is set for March 4th in Milwaukee
and the second contest will be played less than a week later on March 10th in
Los Angeles.
心得 : 公鹿諮詢賽爾提克，關於河流當總教練
快艇諮詢河流，關於鬍子交易
兩樣情...