Bill Simmons, one of ESPN's top columnists, NBA studio analysts, and editor-in-chief of Grantland.com, not to mention renowned Boston "Sports Guy" and diehard Celtics fan, has gotten into a nasty public spat with ex-Celtics head coach Doc Rivers.
After Simmons criticized Rivers' departure from Boston for the Los Angeles Clippers several times, and questioned Rivers' honesty throughout the process by saying "the truth keeps changing", Rivers had harsh words for the pundit at the NBA Draft.
Rivers was quoted saying, "I'd like to call Simmons an idiot, but I'm too classy for that."
The background is that the Clippers were interested in bringing Rivers on board, but he had three years and $21 million remaining on his Celtics contract. The two teams were trying to orchestrate a deal that would essentially trade Rivers and players to Los Angeles for a combination of players and picks. Whether or not Rivers would have continued to coach Boston if a trade wasn't consummated was up for debate.
Rivers spoke to Dan Patrick to tell his version of the tale.
"It's not that hard of a story. They wanted to unload contracts for draft picks. I happened to be one of those contracts. This is a direct quote from an owner: Listen, this is a win-win for us. If we can get a pick for you and you have a chance to go to a team like the Clippers and continue to coach and continue to pursue winning and we can get to rebuilding.'
That's exactly what happened last night. Clearly, I had a selfish motive. I had a chance to not rebuild and go to a team that is in a different phase of their franchise. So everyone benefited from it. Clearly I - at least, I hope I benefitted from it, but this was done together. This was not me walking into the Celtics and saying 'I quit' or anything like that."
Then, Rivers accused Simmons of trying to get him fired by attempting to use his stature in Boston to influence the Celtics front office. An angered Simmons went on Twitter and fired a return shot that read, "The quote I just retweeted is an outright, 100 percent lie. I'd be careful, Glenn. Seriously. Stop talking. You are making sh*t up."
Things could get testy next season, as Simmons, who lives in Los Angeles, is a Clippers season ticket holder.
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