The best teams understand the value of communication. Even if it leads to an initial dispute, the long-term influence of debate looms far larger than any immediate concerns gleaned from it. And Doc Rivers believes the Los Angeles Clippers finally grasp that reality.
Chris Paul and Blake Griffin engaged in an animated discussion just before halftime of their team’s 112-101 romp over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. Despite being ahead by 23 points at the time of the incident, the Clippers’ superstars simply said they were unhappy with execution down the stretch of the second quarter – an attitude that exemplifies they’re never satisfied.
Here’s Paul and Griffin via ESPN’s Arash Markazi:
“It’s not about the other team; it’s about us and what we’re trying to do,” Paul said. “I think it shows we’re always trying to get it right.”
[…]
“To me, personally, I think it’s a great thing for two guys like that to not settle for being up by 23 going into the locker room,” Griffin said. “It’s probably a perfectionist thing on both of our parts, but I think it’s a great thing. The fact that we’re out there talking about that last play shows we’ve made a lot of growth as a team.”
Rivers put a similarly optimistic spin on Paul and Griffin’s spat. The coach who preached “Ubuntu” – a South African term stressing the importance of a “universal bond” – with the Boston Celtics says his All-Stars’ argument is indicative of just how much Los Angeles has matured over the past calendar year.
“You need it. I would say a year ago whenever anybody got upset over a play or something no one talked to each other. This group has really grown. We’re just so much better at that. That gives you a chance, and in the West, all you can ask for is a chance.”
Obviously, the Clippers stood to gain nothing from admitting Paul and Griffin’s exchange is just the latest example in a long running pattern of strife between the tandem. It bears mentioning, too, that league insiders have whispered for years that Los Angeles’ point guard and power forward haven’t always seen eye-to-eye.
But there’s a thick line between minor disagreements or lack of off-court synergy and a potentially debilitating basketball relationship. Paul and Griffin are two of the game’s hardest workers and most intense competitors, and have forged a league-leading offense from a group with parts that often seem mismatched. The respect they share for one another is obvious on a game-by-game basis, too.
Teammates don’t need to be best friends to peacefully coexist or even thrive, and this verbal quarrel doesn’t even suggest Paul and Griffin aren’t, either. As the Clippers universally insist, it hints at a level of comfort and dedication that Rivers thinks they haven’t had in their first three seasons together.
Will that development coupled with subtle individual improvements – Paul’s shooting, Griffin’s passing, DeAndre Jordan’s defensive understanding, and more – be enough for Los Angeles to emerge from a crowded Western Conference? The San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors are something close to juggernauts – we’d choose either team against the field to not only win their conference, but the championship, too.
Luck matters more than ever in the playoffs, though, and the Clippers have shown enough since a middling start to be considered on the title periphery. And if the ball bounces their way, perhaps it will be the emotional evolution to which Rivers alludes that helps them to a chance at a championship.
[ESPN]
