Austin Rivers earned new-found respect after showing out in the playoffs earlier this year. The Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets, and New York Knicks were all at his door. He had the option to leave and get more minutes and more money with a new team. Instead, he opted to stay and sign a three-year, $35 million deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, the team his dad Doc Rivers is the president and coach of, but Austin says that doesn’t mean he has it easier there.
via The OC Register:
“I took less to come back here,” he said. “… I’m not taking this for granted. I was on a team where it was very bad. There are only four or five teams in the league with a realistic chance to win this year, and I think we’re one of them. I’m not taking this for granted. I know if I go somewhere else, I might not ever be on a team like this again. A lot of people go their whole career and never play on a team like this.”
And for people who think he stayed because he’s had it easier playing for his father? Well, Austin politely disagreed.
“It’s the complete opposite. People who think that are (expletive) idiots. It actually gets me angry,” he said. “You can say it. ‘People are idiots.’ You can write that one down.
“I haven’t played for him my whole life, so it’s not like I had it easy. The whole rest of my career – when I was still successful – the No. 1 player in high school, one of the top five, top 10 players in college at Duke. I wasn’t with my father. I haven’t had it easy.”
“I think it’s just a matter of time until I come into my own,” Rivers said.
