RIVERS REWARDS DAD’S FAITH
Guard helps drive Clippers’ playoff success
LOS ANGELES When Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers came up big April 26, scoring 16 points in Game 4 of their firstround series victory against the mighty San Antonio Spurs, his father, who doubles as his coach, had a message he’d heard countless times before.
“Keep playing,” Doc Rivers would say.
When Austin did it again in Game 1 against the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals, helping the Clippers get ahead while Chris Paul and his hamstring rested on the bench, Doc’s postgame talking point remained the same. “Keep playing.” Friday at Staples Center, where the chants of “Aus-tin Riv-ers” rained down and the basketball world celebrated this familyfriendly story, it came as no surprise to anyone that the men themselves weren’t about to start co-directing their Hallmark movie.
“Just keep playing,” said Austin, whose 25 points on 10-for-13 shooting lifted the Clippers to a 124-99 win to put them up 2-1 in the series against the Rockets. “That’s all I can do, is just keep playing hard. That’s all I can control is my hard work and just keep attacking on both ends.”
This was a heartwarming tale to be sure, one that was captured perfectly by the in-game microphones during Austin’s 15-point third quarter when Paul stood next to Doc and said, “This is one time where you can be a dad and not his coach.”
But the truth about Doc and Austin is that they know all too well that this narrative is the double-edged sword that they simply can’t pick up. Not now. Not ever.
The thing about pro sports, that cold reality that Doc learned during all those years as a player and was sure to share with all four of his kids, is that scripts can always flip. They love you one day, then hate you the next. Especially when you’re the only fa- ther-son duo the NBA has seen.
To watch Doc work his way through the postgame news conference was to witness his hesitance to feed this fire. He could have done the proverbial touchdown dance, reminding people yet again that the mid-January trade that brought Austin to town from the Boston Celtics has worked out far better than anyone could have hoped.
After all, Austin — who did this sort of thing regularly in his Duke days — has scored 16-plus points as many times in 10 playoff games as he did in 41 regular-season games with the Clippers (three). And despite their MVP candidate (Paul) being either out (Games 1 and 2) or only partially available (Game 3), Doc’s team has seized control of this series.
But Doc did quite the opposite, dropping lines such as, “They’re all my sons,” when asked about Austin’s night, and saying, “You enjoy it a little bit, but not really,” along the way.
“He knows the way I think, though,” Doc said. “We’ve got another game, and you’ve just got to be ready for the next game.”
Just keep playing, in other words.
“Me and him just looked at it (the trade) as straight basketball,” Austin said. “He wanted me to come over here because he thought I could help, and I wanted to come here because I felt like I could help. And to be on a team with these caliber of players could only benefit me.”
This isn’t just an agreed-upon act for the cameras, though.
“He treats all of us like his kids, and it makes everybody even more supportive of the whole situation,” Clippers guard Jamal Crawford said. “Obviously, we’ve never seen this in sports. I never even played with a guy in AAU where his dad was the coach, so we didn’t know how to do it (when Austin arrived). But once we saw it, it was like, ‘Oh, it’s just another guy.’ ”
Beyond the coach-player dynamic that is so unique, especially considering Austin’s career was at such a crossroads when he arrived midway through his fourth season, there is an added element that makes this situation so intriguing. Doc, of course, is not only the coach but also the team’s top executive, meaning his reputation as a roster builder is partly tied to his son’s ability to flourish in his given role.
That fact is compounded because of the makeup of the Clippers, whose bench — save for super-sub Crawford — is widely considered one of the worst in the league.
Doc Rivers faces his own scrutiny at every turn, too, the highly regarded former Celtics coach who took over for Vinny Del Negro two summers ago and instantly sparked the title talk that has yet to be warranted.
“That’s the ugly part of sports, right?” Austin said recently while discussing the perception of his father. “It is, right? I mean is (former Oklahoma City Thunder coach) Scott Brooks really a bad coach? Did (former Golden State Warriors coach) Mark Jackson really do that bad of a job? That’s just the ugly part of sports. When you do well, they love you. And when you don’t, they cut you off.”
The rest of their family knows what all this means. Doc’s wife and the mother of their four children, Kristen, was so worried about this tricky father-son dynamic when the trade was first being discussed that Austin has said she was a wreck before eventually giving her blessing. Now every Clippers home game is a family affair, with everyone but the oldest, Jeremiah, in attendance for this one.
“I was so proud of Austin and my dad,” said Spencer, who plays at UC Irvine. “It’s easy to hate Austin. On Twitter, he’s always trending with the same names as the best players on the court, you know? I’m just proud of Austin for sticking with it, for keeping on playing. Take one game at a time. I knew he had it in him.
“Whenever he’s frustrated, because it’s your coach and your dad, we’ll talk. There’s good games and bad games. He’s usually pretty positive. A lot of people thought it was going to go wrong quick, and I think he has handled it great. That’s why I’m proud of him.”
Clippers fans were, too. As the seconds ticked away on Game 3, actor Anthony Anderson screamed, “Great game, Austin!” from his fifth-row seat. Spencer smiled about what had just happened as he talked with his friends, even mimicking the stir-the-pot move that belonged to the Rockets’ James Harden but that Austin had so boldly stolen during his unstoppable stretch.
Austin and his father, meanwhile, simply couldn’t wait until their next chance to play again.
“I don’t know how to describe it, but our relationship has always been just that; it’s always been coach-player,” Austin said. “That’s the way it has always been. He grew up in Boston. I grew up in Orlando. Every time we talk, it’s always basketball. ... He’s hard on me, but it’s just because he wants the best out of me.”
And this, they will agree, was about as good as it gets.