Mike Bibby Lights a Match

What do you get for the NBA writer who is bored asking the same questions day after day? A little controversy. So, there was much joy among the media multitudes in Waltham today thanks to Hawks guard Mike Bibby, who made some fairly unflattering comments about Bostonians.

Bibby told the Atlanta Journal Constituition’s Sekou Smith that Celtics fans are “bandwagon jumpers.” Bibby apparently got into it with a handful of locals during Sunday’s game. Or maybe he was just upset that his one-time pupil, Rajon Rondo, had his way with him in Game 1. (Incidentally, Marc Spears has an excellent piece in today’s Globe about the Bibby-Rondo relationship).

And away we go.

When we asked Doc Rivers about it, he wouldn’t take the bait, so we moved on to Paul Pierce, who rose to our city’s defense: “That’s disrespectful to our fans,” Pierce said.

The full text of Bibby’s comments are right here:

“They were kind of loud at the beginning,” he said. “But a lot of these fans are bandwagon jumpers trying to get on this now. I played here last year, too. And I didn’t see three fourths of them. They’re for the team now and they might get a little rowdy but that’s about it.”

Of course, this is all pretty tame stuff, but now there is a “villain” in this series. Or, perhaps, the veteran Bibby wanted to take some of the heat off his younger teammates who appeared completely over-matched in Game 1. In any case, it’s on now.

Also from Waltham

In a decision that shocked no one, Garnett won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award. What was surprising was this was KG’s first time winning the award. Garnett, nattily attired in a sweater-vest tie combination, accepted the award after practice. The mini press-conference was brief, so I didn’t get a chance to ask if his attire was Ray Allen-approved.

Finally, in a half-court shooting contest of epic proportions, Leon Powe bested PJ Brown.