Austin Rivers Kicked His Dad Right In The Dick Saying The Rockets Are His Favorite Place He's Ever Played

Media Day is all about building up hype. Everyone is in the best shape of their life, everyone put in so much work over the summer and think this will be the best year of their career, and everyone LOVES the team they currently play for and their chances at a title. So while that’s most likely all Austin Rivers was doing with that comment, it was pretty funny there was a heavy amount of unintentional shade at his pops. Remember, it was Danny Ainge/Doc Rivers that pretty much kept Austin’s NBA dream alive. In 2015 Ainge snagged him in part of a massive multiple team trade involving Jeff Green and then since the Celts had no use for him at the time instead of just cutting him, Ainge sent Rivers out to LA to play for his Dad, which at the time was probably Rivers’ last true shot to stick in the league. He played in 42 games that year for the Clippers and averaged just 7/2.0/1.7 on 42/30% splits, yet his Dad hooked him up with a 3/35M extension. Of all the places Rivers has been, no team has given him more starts than the 97 he had with the Clippers where he arguably had the best years of his career. He took the most shots, scored the most points and played the most minutes all under Doc.

One would think that would make his time with the Clippers his most favorite place. But then you remember that his Dad traded him to the Wizards for Marcin Gortat. You know the WSH team that won 32 games. He went from starting and being a real rotation player to suddenly only playing in 29 games with 2 starts before they traded him to PHX who then waived him the next day. A week later he found his way to HOU and the rest is history.

So while it’s true that the Rockets give him the same sort of freedom as a player that Rivers had as a Clipper, that’s still gotta be tough for Doc to hear that his own son, whose career he saved and bank account he filled, still isn’t his favorite NBA situation. Kids man, what dicks they can be sometimes.