Austin Rivers' impressive journey to the NBA and LA Clippers
Austin Rivers receives a lot of hate and comments about “only playing because of his dad,” but his journey to the NBA and where he is now with the LA Clippers is impressive.
Dec 30, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; LA Clippers guard Austin Rivers (25) talks to his father and head coach Doc Rivers during a time out in the second half of the game against the Charlotte Hornets at Time Warner Cable Arena. Clippers win 122-117. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports
Austin Rivers isn’t the perfect basketball player, but he certainly isn’t alone in that. Nobody on the planet can be classed as the “perfect” basketball player, everyone has their flaws (even MJ and LeBron), its part of being a human.
But the notion that Rivers is only in the league because he happens to be related to Head Coach Doc Rivers, is ridiculous.
Sure, it helps if you have a coach who has a real confidence in your ability and wants to see you succeed in the sport on both a personal and professional level, but in reality, every coach feels this way about all of their players (with a few exceptions).
If anything, having a famous last name (especially of a former All-Star and championship-winning coach) just puts even more pressure on the individual to perform and live up to the expectations and constant comparisons.
Maybe Austin won’t ever make the All-Star team like his father, who as a player averaged 10.9 points, 5.7 assists and three rebounds across his 14-year NBA career, but his impressive journey to get to where he is now has nothing to do with his last name.
Winter Park High School
On Tuesday 13th December, 2016, while in Orlando as part of an East Coast road trip, in the presence of his LA Clippers teammates and coaching staff including Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and his father Doc, Austin Rivers’ No. 25 jersey was officially retired.
The ceremony was held to honor and celebrate his time at the school, and recognize his contributions, as the all-time leader in both points and steals, averaging 23 points, two assists, five rebounds and two steals in 125 games.
Rivers led the team to a 109-18 record in his four years, including back-to-back state championships, and was a five star recruit going into college, where he was widely regarded as the top high-school prospect of the 2011 class.
Austin was named a McDonald’s All-American and led the USA to a gold medal at the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, setting a team record with 35 points. He was also named the 2011 Mr Florida Basketball and Naismith Prep Player of the Year, joining the likes of Kobe Bryant (1996), LeBron James (2003) and Dwight Howard (2004).
Rivers’ jersey is only the second to be retired in the school’s history, behind his older sister Callie who won three state championships in volleyball.
Duke University
Austin Rivers averaged 15.5 points, 2.1 assists, 3.4 rebounds and one steal per game in his “one and done” year at Duke before declaring himself for the 2012 NBA Draft.
Often is the case, top high school recruits in the country are somewhat diluted in the sea of college basketball talent, with them going from the clear-cut best player on the team, to potentially a lower level role player, but Austin’s 34 games at Duke were a real spectacle.
His athleticism and jaw dropping speed allowed him to get to the rim on-demand, with the help of an army of Plumlee brothers setting screens, Austin built up quite the highlight reel of dunks and impossibly acrobatic layups, finishing with both hands.
Although Rivers was lighting up the scoreboard on a nightly basis, he continually developed on the defensive end of the floor, becoming a real pest for opposing guards and really showcased his ability to step up to the challenge of covering guys three-four inches taller than him.
Rivers’ offense was always the strongest part of his game in college, scoring double-digits in 30 of his 34 games at Duke, with a career-high 29 points coming against bitter rivals North Carolina in THAT game.
February 8th, 2012. Chapel Hill – UNC with a 10-point lead, 2:15 left in the game. Tyler Thornton mounts a comeback, followed by consecutive Seth Curry and Ryan Kelly buckets.
Even now as I’m typing this I can remember every little detail so vividly. Five seconds to go, UNC up 82-84. Mason Plumlee sets the screen on former Clipper Reggie Bullock and switches Tyler Zeller onto Austin with two seconds left. Then, from about a foot beyond the three-point line, Austin rises up with a hand in his face and lets it fly.
The biggest moment of his career, the defining shot. 92 years of the Duke – North Carolina rivalry.
It says a lot about a (19-year-old) player who not only has the ability to drill a contested game-winning three in the home arena of the team’s biggest rival, but actually having the confidence to be “the guy” who puts all of the responsibility of the team and the history of the school on his shoulders.
Clippers fans know exactly how much passion and fight Austin has when it’s all on the line, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
New Orleans Pelicans
Austin Rivers was drafted at No. 10 and seemed to struggle adapting to the NBA game almost immediately.
Starting nine of his first 10 games for the then New Orleans Hornets, Austin averaged only seven points, 2.9 assists, two rebounds and 0.8 steals in 28.1 minutes of play before being dropped into the reserve unit. Over the course of the season, Rivers minutes fluctuated up and down to meet the needs of the team, with guys like Eric Gordon missing through injury.
The biggest struggle Austin had in his transition into the professional game was his offensive consistency. In 61 total games, Rivers shot an abysmal 37-32-54 from the floor and never managed to find the link-up play with Anthony Davis that New Orleans had been hoping for when they drafted the young duo.
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Rivers showed relative improvement in his second season, playing 79 percent of his minutes at the point guard position (compared to only seven percent in his first season) and although his minutes took a slight dip, Austin seemed to be far more comfortable in a role coming off the bench. He posted career highs across the board with 7.7 points, 2.3 assists and 1.9 rebounds, as well as shooting 40-36-63 from the field. Still not nearly as consistent as everyone had hoped, but an improvement nonetheless.
Going into his third season there were rumours swirling that this might be Rivers’ last chance to prove himself with the Pelicans before they would look to move on from, which they did at around the half way point of the season.
Austin was traded to the Boston Celtics and then three days later, as part of a multi-team deal, joined Doc Rivers and the LA Clippers, becoming the first ever father-son team in NBA history.
In 165 games with New Orleans, Rivers averaged 6.9 points, 2.3 assists and 1.9 rebounds, which many (especially Pelicans fans) viewed as a “bust”.
October 4, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; LA Clippers guard Austin Rivers (25) talks to head coach Doc Rivers (right) during the second quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Clippers 120-75. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
LA Clippers
On January 16th 2015 NBA history was made. No other player had ever suited up for a team where his father was the head coach. And to start out it really wasn’t pretty. Austin struggled massively early on in his Clippers career, scoring 14 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds (in total) through is first five games, and hitting just one three-pointer.
But his potential on the defensive end was definitely there. His quick footwork, smart switching and holding the ball-handler up in transition started to justify his playing time, and eventually began to find his shot, scoring a career and season-high 28 points in a blowout victory against the Sacramento Kings.
Rivers’ first taste of playoff basketball redefined the term “thrown in at the deep end” as the Clippers were drawn against defending champion San Antonio Spurs in what would go on to be one of the greatest first round matchups in history. Eventually, the Clippers lost in the second round to the Houston Rockets after being only one game away from progressing to the Western Conference Finals for the first time.
But that’s ok… because the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.
In summer of 2015, Austin re-signed with the Clippers and started to show real improvement on both ends of the floor, scoring more efficiently and often taking the tougher defensive assignments to ease the load on Chris Paul, who he was also playing alongside more often as a dual-point guard, small-ball type of lineup. During the season, Austin topped his career high with an incredible 32 point, near win as a shorthanded Clippers team took on the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Fast forward through a horrific, painful first round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers, who eventually eliminated the Clippers after losing both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. But Austin Rivers performance in Game 6 changed absolutely everything.
Austin suffered a bloody and dangerous gash on left eye after an elbow from Portland’s Al-Farouq Aminu in the first quarter. After being taken out of the game and into the medical facility, Rivers received 11 stitches before stepping back onto the court with around five minutes left in the second quarter.
Playing essentially blind in one eye,and in a considerable amount of pain, Rivers finished the game with 21 points, eight assists, six rebounds and the respect and admiration of every individual associated with the game of basketball.
Tweets flooded in from the NBA family showing their support for Rivers’ performance
Couldn't be more impressed with @AustinRivers25 and the rest of the @LAClippers tonight. pic.twitter.com/3UKxB8yWeb
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) April 30, 2016
Ball really is life for Austin Rivers. #respecthttps://t.co/ngLTSvVgZr
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 30, 2016
Nobody could ever ask more of a player than what Austin gave to the Clippers in this game. He stepped up when the team needed him most, and then took it to a completely new level of dedication and effort.
During free agency of 2016, Austin re-signed with the Clippers on a three-year, $35 million contract, which some fans STILL thought was way too much for the former lottery pick.
Jan 6, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; LA Clippers guard Austin Rivers (25) during the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
2016-2017 season
Anybody who still thinks at this point that Austin Rivers isn’t a legitimate NBA player doesn’t know nearly enough about the sport.
This season, Rivers has shown considerable improvement in his all around game.
In 38 games so far, Austin is averaging a career-high 10.8 points per game on 44-40-71 shooting splits from the floor, three career-highs to go with 2.4 assists and 1.9 rebounds. He’s also averaging a career-high in steals (0.8).
The biggest, and easily most impressive stat is the 40.3 percent mark from beyond the arc, all while taking 3.5 per game (another career-high). Shooting is one aspect of Rivers’ game that he’s always struggled with, especially since being drafted into the NBA, which has previously caused some problems with spacing and being able to play off the ball.
His defence has been massive in the Clippers’ success, especially when tasked to guard the opposing team’s best guard, while even and played 19 percent of his total minutes at the small forward position this season (he’s only 6’4″).
The main point, that not just Clippers fans, but anybody who doubts Rivers’ ability to play in the NBA need to take away, is this:
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Since joining Los Angeles two and a half seasons ago, he has continually improved his game.
His scoring efficiency, his play-making, his defence, and his ability to adapt and fit into whatever role the team needs, whether it’s running the offense at point guard, coming off the bench to provide a scoring spark, or being a part time wing-stopper. He is improving.
Not all lottery picks turn out to be All-Star, MVP talents. And that’s ok.
If you look at the longevity of NBA players careers, other than the freakish superstars like Kobe, Duncan and LeBron, the guys who play for 15-20 years are the ones who carve out a particular niche and make the very most of their role.
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That’s not to rule out Austin eventually making the leap to All-Star status in his career. He’s not even anywhere near his prime yet, and if he continues to grow and develop the way he has in the last year or two, his potential is high.
