Seems as if a lot of guys around the NBA – especially former teammates – have a theme song for LA Clippers guard Austin Rivers, Big Sean’s “I don’t F with you.” Austin is aware that people don’t like him and in a recent interview with ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne, he clapped back at the haters.
People are like, ‘Well, his dad gave him his chance.’ Is that true or not? I don’t know. It might be,” Rivers said. “[But] could it be that my pops knew how good I could be because he’s my pops?
“I know what the narrative is on me,” Rivers said. “It’s because I come from money and I have a swagger and confidence about me.
“[But] if I didn’t have this confidence or swagger in myself, I wouldn’t be built to handle the negativity that I’ve gotten. I would’ve already broken down years ago because I’ve gotten this since high school. I’ve turned it into a fuel and it’s helped me. I go into each away arena and it’s rough, because of the s— I hear. This chip on my shoulder, this swagger and confidence, it helps me. If I didn’t have it, I would not be in the NBA.”
Some people think I’m a great player, some people don’t. That’s fine. Numbers don’t ever lie. I know what I’m doing and I know what this team is doing.
“I was the No. 1 player in high school. I was a lottery player at Duke. I was player of the year in the ACC as a freshman. People just forget about these things, like I don’t deserve to be in the league.
If the dust up from the other day didn’t give you enough context on what guys around the league think of him, Matt Barnes had this to add in a recent interview.
#ICYMI – @Matt_Barnes22 tells @NicoleZaloumis & @RicBucher that Austin Rivers is a fake tough guy who’s “arrogant” and Doc Rivers is responsible for “the demise of the Clippers”. Hear the full interview On Demand with the @SIRIUSXM app! #LCLonMDSR pic.twitter.com/Y1WYRKEjxr
— Mad Dog Sports Radio (@MadDogRadio) January 17, 2018
“He’s just very arrogant,” Barnes told Mad Dog Sports Radio of Austin. “I know him personally, and at the beginning it took a little bit to get used to and as a teammate you kind of just accept him for who he is and have his back as a teammate, but hearing guys talk around the league and seeing guys that had a problem with him while I was playing with him, I could see why.
“He carries himself like he’s a 10-time All-Star, and he’s not that. That kind of arrogance rubs people the wrong way, and if you’re talking trash on top of that, there are some guys in the NBA who aren’t going to have that.
“Doc’s played a vital role in the demise of the Clippers. We had Vinny Del Negro the season before he was there and won 50-something games. We lost in the second round and should’ve won, and then Vinny was fired. Doc came in to save all, do all, and at the beginning he did well, but I think his players started seeing through him — say one thing, do another thing, do things like give his son a bunch of money. As players, that’s the kind of stuff you talk about.
“Then, like I said, from JJ [Redick] to Chris to myself and guys who are on the team still, Doc’s kind of been — you’ve seen the best of the Clippers with the way that they’re built as they stand now.”
In June 2017, Glen “Big Baby” Davis made a video with some “advice” for Austin.
