The war of words between the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks just took a turn for the, well, logical.
Throughout the offseason, both teams have taken shots at each other as they prematurely begin the battle for New York. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry’s arrival basically equated to throwing three expensive bottles of scotch at a blazing inferno. This rivalry already existed; their arrivals just heightened the intrigue, meaning and potency of it.
From Raymond Felton and Pierce going at it to J.R. Smith ultimately predicting the Knicks would win the NBA title (again), this feud has had everything. That is, except numerous displays of players taking the high road, especially in Brooklyn.
Iman Shumpert wouldn’t play into the merry-go-round of words, instead opting to point out that the Knicks were worried about the Knicks, not the Nets. Brooklyn itself hasn’t had that, though. Until now.
Reggie Evans, Terry and Pierce advanced the bickering while Deron Williams has remained politically correct. Asked about Pierce’s assertion that the Nets were going to take New York from the Knicks, D-Will told ESPN New York’s Ian Begley that he essentially didn’t know, but supported his teammate:
That’s my teammate so I’m with him. Of course we want to run New York. The Knicks are our rival. I don’t get into too much of the talking. We’ll decide all that on the court. We have four games to play against them and then the playoffs so I’ll let Paul do the talking and I’ll just go out there and play.
When did Williams becomes such a smooth-talking sage? Diplomacy must be a hidden talent of his. That sounds like a deflective, yet non-evasive answer LeBron James would offer on the subject of his impending free agency. It was both informative, yet so overwhelmingly conservative, it can’t be twisted to mean anything else.
Those of you who continue to read me know I’m never about reserved answers. I like my sound bites like I like my celebrity crushes—loud and with blue hair. So, like Katy Perry. Williams’ response is more safeguarded. Think of it like any Russell Crowe movie—minus Gladiator—in that his answer didn’t take any chances. It was sheltered.
Knowing that, you can sense major doses of snark headed his way. While normally you’d be right, I have no real criticism of what Williams said, because I agree.
Of course the Nets want to run New York. Brooklyn wouldn’t be showing its competitive fire if it didn’t. This whole thing began with something that wasn’t really news. To start off, Pierce has never shied away from speaking his mind. And he hates the Knicks. There’s no way he would have said anything else.
Had he said “eh, the Knicks got this,” that would’ve been news. Big news. Ceding control to an inner-city rival before the season even began is a hard-hitting bit of intel. Nothing that has transpired thus far falls into the same category. Of course Pierce predicted the Nets would run New York. Of course Smith would say the Knicks can win a title in 2014. Of course Terry and Evans don’t agree with him.
These players wouldn’t be doing their job if they weren’t drumming up the potential of their team at the expense of the other. Williams said so. He stood by Pierce, but also acknowledged there are four games and the playoffs still to play.
Spoken like a true, level-headed politician. If you ask me, with all that’s (supposed to be) going on, Williams’ sensible take is the real surprise here.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
