Golden State Warriors news 2015: Klay Thompson responds to criticism

Klay ThompsonReuters

The Golden State Warriors are still savoring their triumph from last season and will obviously be looking to repeat as champions. But before opening their title defense, it seems a couple of teams are still not impressed with the feat.

The Rockets were the first to sound off some criticism, headlined by Ty Lawson who felt that last year's Most Valuable Player (MVP) Steph Curry had a lucky time since no one defended him properly. This would soon be followed by Harden's claim that he should have been the MVP (and indirectly saying it shouldn't have gone to Curry).

But the real kicker seems to be the one from Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers. Apparently, he believes that the Warriors got the luck needed to survive in the competitive Western Conference bracket.

"You need luck in the West. Look at Golden State. They didn't have to play us or the Spurs," says Doc Rivers in an interview with Grantland's Zach Lowe.

From a standpoint, it seems that Rivers' rants were harmless. But not to Klay Thompson who took exception to Rivers' claims.

"Didn't they lose to the Rockets?" Thompson said via ESPN. "So that just makes me laugh. That's funny. Weren't they up 3–1, too? Tell them I said that, too."

He finishes off that piece by saying that he would have loved to play the Clippers, but unfortunately, they could not do their end and face up with the Warriors in the later rounds.

The jawing is, of course, only to be expected since the National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference is pretty much competitive.

Aside from the Rockets and the Clippers, the Warriors have to contend with the souped up San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies for supremacy.

With the regular season set to open in a couple of weeks, fireworks have started and expected to continue as the 2015–16 NBA season goes along.