Well, in any case, Paul decided not to join the contingent what met with Durant in-person. Now apparently, Doc held that against Paul because he thought we had a legit shot at him at the time, which I didn't know until now. Add that to the Austin Rivers favoritism and it was the nail in the coffin for Lob City. Still, Smith's account lines up with everything I've heard at the time.
Interesting still is that former athletes are defending Doc, especially since he's been relieved of his front-office duties. Stephen Jackson makes a good point about players preferring to play for Doc over Luke Walton, which I have to agree with. Jackson's point about disrespecting coaches who have not played the game at a high level is ridiculous but he's an opinionated former player who's biased in that regard.
Dismissing Gregg Popovich and Phil Jackson as "unicorns" implying the rarity of such instances is actually quite misguided when you consider Brad Stevens, Pat Riley, Erik Spoelstra, Rick Carlisle and even Mike Krzyzewski. The best coaches are usually those who haven't played the game at a high level. Or does Jax such logic also applies to GMs as well when you consider Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas or even Doc Rivers himself? By the way, Glenn "Doc" Rivers wasn't exactly the best player on his NBA teams either.
Still, while I consider Doc to be overrated, he does present some appeal as a recruiter right now, but again, a lot of that has to do with Jerry West backing him at the moment and his neutered influence in front-office decisions.
Popovich wrote:
