Austin Rivers and father Doc reunite on court as rivals
LOS ANGELES — Austin Rivers walked down the familiar hallway and ducked behind the black curtain that separates outsiders from the players in Los Angeles Clippers uniforms. That home locker room inside the Staples Center was once his safe space, his open door into a more welcoming environment.
“That was when happiness in basketball came back together for me,” Rivers said, recalling his time in Los Angeles and inside that locker room.
The Clippers’ head coach office is also in that space. Which meant that Doc Rivers, who had just coached the Clippers to a resounding 136-104 victory, could’ve been inside. And after avoiding warm moments all game long as cameras focused on their actions, would the father and son meet up?
On Sunday night, the first night in years that Austin and Doc went against each other on the court, they remained stuck in their roles as competitors. There was no hug before the national anthem. Austin didn’t walk over to the Clippers’ sideline. Doc didn’t concern himself about pregame pleasantries.
“Do you shake his hand? Do you wish him luck?” Doc said, remembering the awkwardness as rivals during Austin’s first years in the league when he played for the New Orleans Pelicans. “Now, you just want to beat him.”
Doc delivered that line with a chuckle, but he meant every coldblooded syllable.
Several family members and friends of the Wizards’ players filled the stands Sunday night. While most parents would’ve felt immense pride in watching their son play 22 minutes Sunday night, Doc possibly took more sanctification in watchingClippers rookie Shai Gilgeous-Alexander strip his son of the ball and score on the other end early in the Clippers’ 41-point second quarter.
The relationship between Doc and Austin may seem strange to wannabe Freuds. Austin publicly calls his father by his nickname, just like everyone else. Even as a grandfather, Doc can be singularly focused on the game.
“He’s trying to ask when is he going Clippers coach Doc Rivers talks with guard Austin Rivers during a game last April when Austin, now a Wizard, played for his father in Los Angeles. to start playing basketball,” Austin said about Doc’s check-ins on 2-month-old grandson Kayden.
However, the bond does exist. Andit helps explain why Doc didn’t make the phone call on the day his son was traded to the Wizards.
For the previous four-plus years, the Clippers allowed Austin to cheat an early basketball death. When Austin first walked through that locker room door, he was in a dark place. A former NBA lottery pick, he had lost his confidence in New Orleans. However, Doc, then the president and chief basketball decision-maker of the Clippers, made the trade for his son.
“To hear the stuff about Doc and Austin, about howhe did Austin a favor and he’s only on the team because of [his father], that is such a bad narrative,” coach Scott Brooks said. “It’s actually sad. Because getting to know Austin, that guy works hard and he wants to do it.”
Critics charged Doc with nepotism. That he had simply given Austin a coveted roster spot. But those people probably didn’t knowDoc, nor did they understand that the super-rich dad didn’t even buy his sons cars until they earned college scholarships.
“I think people think because my dad is wealthy that we were just given stuff,” said oldest son Jeremiah, who earned a basketball scholarship to Georgetown. “They traded for him and maybe that wasn’t the most popular thing to do,” Jeremiah said, “but he got better every season and had some incredible playoff moments, won some games for him.”
In Los Angeles, Austin’s swag soared to 100 as he played as a core resident of Lob City. But last June, during the Clippers’ remodel, the team traded Rivers to Washington. Doc dispatched his assistant to break the news to Austin. It was too hard for him.
“You know, it’s also better now, too, because I had a chance to coach him and just from a purely parenting father-son relationship, you know, we’ve never been closer,” Doc said before Sunday’s game. “So there’s a lot of good things to come out of it.”
However, the competitor in Doc finished the statement.
“But now you really want to beat him,” Doc added with a laugh.