L.A. Clippers guard Patrick Beverley and head coach Doc Rivers shared the sentiments expressed by Los Angeles Lakers' star Anthony Davis on Monday afternoon.
Having brought forth a significant share of the NBA's talent pool, past and present, Chicago native Davis said the Windy City was the Mecca of Basketball, not New York.
“It is,” said Davis. “We’ve got the best basketball players ever. You look at the history with all the guys we’ve got that made the league and even the guys that didn’t make the league. They say New York, but it’s not even close.”
After practice on Tuesday, Rivers shared his thoughts on Davis' comments.
“Yeah, he's right,” affirmed Rivers. “It's not even a question. No, I really believe that. Chicago is the Mecca of Basketball. Proviso East is the Mecca. But the Mecca of Basketball is absolutely Chicago players.”
Rivers grew up in Chicago, but never played for the Bulls. He did, however, have a chance to play two seasons in New York as a member of the New York Knicks.
“New York gets all the rub, which I don't get,” added Rivers. “But Chicago is [the Mecca]. It's not even close.
“It's great. [Growing up], you know everybody, you play against everybody. I mean, how many kids can say, unless you grew up in Chicago, you can have a pickup game out on the park with Isiah Thomas, Terry Cummings, Maurice Cheeks, Mark Aguirre, Darrell Walker? There's not a lot of pickup games like that in your same grade. That's every year. That's called Chicago basketball.”
#Clippers coach Doc Rivers agrees with #Lakers’ Star Anthony Davis, says Chicago is the Mecca of Basketball, not New York.#Bulls #Knicks pic.twitter.com/zq651nQr7C
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) November 5, 2019
Patrick Beverley, who also hails from Chicago and goes back home every year, agreed with his coach and current rival in Davis.
“Yeah of course, I have to,” Beverley claimed. “Over the past years, I can only go from when I was in high school. We had a lot of basketball players. Sherron Collins. Jerome Randle. Jonathan Scheyer, over the years due to the violence basketball has taken a step down. It has come back up. Usually guys like Kendrick Nunn, Jahilil Okafor, Anthony Davis, Jabari Parker, the Southside, putting out pros. Whether it’s the southside or westside, we are connected in the city. When we’re an NBA player, we take it on our lap so I think that’s the case.”
Patrick Beverley on Chicago being the Mecca of Basketball – “Of course [it is]. Over the past years, we’ve had a lot of basketball players come out. Over the years, due to the violence, basketball has sort of taken a step down, but it’s coming back up.”#Clippers pic.twitter.com/DYqFM1YLx7
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) November 5, 2019
This debate might go on for a few days after some of the comments made by Davis, Rivers, and Beverley. The Clippers, however, will quickly shift their focus to the matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.
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