Doc, Austin Rivers confident father-son situation will work out
LOS ANGELES — When Los Angeles Clippers coach and president of basketball operations Doc Rivers discussed the arrival of his son, Austin, as a member of his team on Friday night, it only made sense that the man who inspired his name choice more than 23 years ago was there for the big day.
Austin Carr, the former Cleveland Cavaliers star who is now a television commentator for his old team, was among the many media members curious to hear Doc describe this historic experience and all the unprecedented dynamics that come with it. After all, the whole Rivers family is hoping this is the rebirth of the younger Austin's career.
Austin Rivers became the first NBA player to see floor time under his father in a 126-121 loss to the Cavaliers, finishing scoreless in 12 minutes while missing all four of his shots just one day after he was part of a three-team deal that brought him from New Orleans to Los Angeles.
After three seasons with the Pelicans in which he struggled to find a consistent role and never shot better than 40.6% from the field overall, Rivers – who was taken 10th overall out of Duke in 2012 – now finds himself pairing with super sixth man Jamal Crawford on a Clippers' second unit that needs to be elite if they're to remain in title contention from here until the end.
The justifiable question about his addition, of course, is whether Doc made this move with only the best of intentions for his team or if there was an element of nepotism involved here that could make for a challenging situation.
"He fits our team," said Doc Rivers, whose uncle, Jim Brewer, played for the Cavaliers with Carr in the mid-1970s when Mr. Cavalier, as they called Carr, became Doc's favorite. "We had a small opportunity this summer (to get Austin in a trade with the Pelicans), and for me, I was like, 'Ah, I don't know.' But at the end of the day, my job is to do what I think is the best for the team, not the best for me or what's comfortable for me.
"We felt like this was (it). That (roster fit) probably swayed me more than the father part swayed me. I can tell you that…As far as the executive (role he plays), I had to think of it in those terms, and it made sense for us."
This job was available, in essence, because veteran point guard Jordan Farmar wasn't a good fit with Crawford and Doc made the decision to part ways with him this week. In Rivers, he hopes he's getting a young player who is getting closer to turning the proverbial corner in his NBA life.
But what happens if that's not the case, if Austin struggles and Doc finds himself being forced to make the kinds of tough roster decisions that he agreed to when owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gave him a five-year, $50 million deal last summer? Or what if this leads to the most uncomfortable of free agency periods, with a father on one side of the negotiating table and his beloved son and his agent on the other?
For his part, Austin insisted that there's no reason for concern.
"If I'm not playing well, he's going to sit me," Austin said. "I'm sitting on the bench. It is what it is. He wants to win. My dad's the type of guy when I was five years old, if we played checkers, he would not let me win. That's just kind of how he is. He's not doing any favors for me.
"I've got to earn everything here, and I think the guys know that. If we didn't have the high-character of guys we had here, I don't think we would've made the move. But they're all high-character guys here."
While George Karl and his son, Coby, were both with the Denver Nuggets during the 2010-11 season, George was fighting cancer at the time and the little playing time his son received during his short time there came while his father was away from the team. As such, Doc and Austin are the groundbreakers to a piece of history that they have very little interest in.
"Making history – well great," Doc said. "I didn't really care about that. I want to win, and I want to make our team better. And that's my goal whatever I do."
Before deciding that Austin could help with that cause, though, Doc consulted with – among many others – his wife Kristen. There are four Rivers kids in all, with Jeremiah the elder, sister Callie behind Austin and son Spencer the youngest. And for Kristen, there was real concern as to how this would all work.
"The first thing I did was call my mom (as they discussed the idea)," Austin said. "She's the one that got to deal with this, and she was a wreck the first night. She was calling me, (saying) 'Like what if this happens?' I was like, 'Mom, it's not on anybody but me and (Doc). At the end of the day, my job is to play and compete, and that's it.'
"I know my role here. I know Chris (Paul) and Blake (Griffin) are the leaders, and everybody else behind them are really guys who are role players. They're great players. But I'm just here to compete and help this team out."
Just like any other player.
"I'm viewing it as an opportunity to play for a great team," Austin said. "The whole father-son thing, obviously people are going to read into that, but it is what it is, and I'm just focusing on the basketball part."
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