It seems Tyronn Lue waxing respect for the Boston Celtics has offended the Golden State Warriors.
At the very least, acting Warriors head coach Mike Brown has taken stock of it.
The Cleveland Cavaliers head coach previously said that, to him, it was harder to game plan for the Celtics’ offense than for the Warriors’ attack. Asked about this, Brown offered a five-word response, per the Bay Area News Group’s Anthony V. Slater:
Short answer from Mike Brown on Tyronn Lue's comment that Celtics are "harder to defend" than Warriors: "That's his opinion. It's cute." pic.twitter.com/lHuezIwXfQ
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 25, 2017
What else is Brown supposed to say? Clearly, he thinks his own NBA Finals participant is going to be the more difficult team to defend. And on the surface, Lue’s comments do sound ridiculous. The Warriors have Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson for crying out loud. Of course they are the more challenging team.
But, to Lue’s credit, it doesn’t appear he was denigrating the Warriors. He was just showing respect for the Celtics, and for head coach Brad Stevens, and for the way that team structured its offensive hierarchy in the aftermath of Isaiah Thomas’ injury. Even with Thomas, there was barely a pecking order. It went him, and then, on any given night, any combination of everyone else on the roster.
Could Lue have been throwing shade at the Warriors, perhaps implying that because they’re not a heavy pick-and-roll team and focus more on off-ball screens and separation rather than cuts and constant motion (unless your Thompson) they’re somehow inferior? Maybe. Probably not. Okay, possibly. The hell if I know anymore.
At least it’s not like we have to wait till Thursday or something for the Warriors’ to prove Lue wrong.
Oh, wait, that’s exactly what we have to do…
