Austin Rivers Ruined the Clippers

[Chris] Paul’s relationship with Doc Rivers started to deteriorate rapidly after the Clippers acquired Austin Rivers. Several members of the team felt Austin acted entitled because his dad was both the coach and the President of Basketball Operations. In the view of the tenured players, Austin Rivers never tried to fit in, and when players tried to address the situation with him, he still did not respond the way the core of the team wanted him to. It led to resentment within the locker room, which often played out during games. One of Paul’s biggest contentions with Doc was that Paul, and other players, felt Doc treated Austin more favorably than other players. He would yell at guys for certain things during games and practices, but not get on Austin in the same manner for similar transgressions.

how clip fans sit there blind to the fact that this guy Austin rivers " WHO SUCKS" got all this money and playing time and a trade chip to get a guy like melo early into the season with phil jackson would have traded for AND DOC SAID NO or didn't add another piece like jj or even Deandre at this point shows the majority of clips fans do not understand the game

Shame on you guys on here not bashing austin rivers and i havent been on here for a while and I'm reading AUSTIN IS OUR STARTING 2 ??????

Correct me if I am wrong....

From what i understand, Doc did NOT want to trade for Austin. It was the players that pushed for that trade.

Austin did not trade all those picks away to get rid of players Doc did not like or thought were done.

At the time that the Melo trade was propposed we had I think only 2 guards available and Doc did not want to risk it or though it would hurt the team more then help.

Austin has steadily gotten a whole lot better since first joining the Clippers thus earning his contract (see other guys getting paid as much or more for doing only 1 thing right....)

I see no one getting on Jamal for consistently building a house out there almost eveynight and doing nothing else.

At the moment Austin is the staring 2. But that will change by next week. We can not have Williams and Jamal on the same team. Doc likes that 3 guard line up and loves Jamal.

Well said

I actually like Austin.

Soooooooooo much confidence! Just needs to translate to consistency.

As far as stats, Austin prior to the trade was almost the worst in not the worst guard in the league. He probably shouldn't even have been playing. His+/- are still bad but strangely enough his other stats ore OK 0.371% 3 pt.. I was a supporter and he has gotten better. It doesn't matter who said what, Doc should never signed Austin because of nepotism.

The clippers were ruined when Sterling decided to not give Olshey or any GM a contract. Having a GM or a front office before Doc got here would have provided some check and balances.

I believe you meant to say Austin's dad ruined the Clippers. Doc is incapable of being President of BOs and coaching the team. There were complaints of Doc's coaching prior to Austin's arrival.

Austin has made a great improvement over the past years and I appreciate his aggressiveness, toughness, determination and will. Flashback to a bloody swollen face and closed black eyes, yet he came back out on the floor and played his heart out.

Go Clips

The Nevada Fans

Stop it.. That was fake news before "fake news" even became an actual term. Doc and company created that narrative to try to repel any notion or hint of nepotism. Doc saved Junior's career, end of story. And really I don't mind Austin on the team at all but his pops did save him

This post is very comical.

Regardless of what happened with Austin, I can say that he has improved and contribute to the clippers. Does Austin have room for improvement yes he does can he get better yes he can. If he was an aging player or didn't show any improvement I would say yes he sucks. He isn't a great player but (IMO) is good player with room for improvement.

The Clippers have had their lows because of the system I have never like the isolations and the same pick and rolls. I like too see more ball movement and getting players involved. Maybe now that CP3 is gone we can see a higher pace of play and more ball movement.

Lets keep positives open and hope Austin plays and makes an impact on the court. Let's hope Blake recovers from the toe injury, stays healthy, and becomes a leader. Stay positive my friends.

Sorry, but I never wanted Melo on my Clippers.

Like I said., I WATCHED that interview during a game . If I watched it, so did a lot of other fans. Your link just proves he likes to say things like Trump.

The point isn't whether Austin has improved or not. The point is Doc lost the locker room by bringing his below average son on the team and playing favorites. What makes it worse is many say rivers has a bad attitude and acts like an assshole.

That's just hearsay, but from what I see in his attitude he seems like that type of kid you'd want to punch in the mouth at some point.

Look no further than his tweet about Team USA and it's players. He basically said he was better than most of the guys on the team. All you have to do is ask yourself if he would have made those comments if he were still with N.O. or even Boston's trash heap. Nepotism is a strange drug. It makes the beneficiary act with a false sense superiority over others.He is the epitome of that person that talks and acts in a way that you just want to go BG on him. lol

^^Meh, we all have to choose what we want to believe. Personally, the idea of a coach/GMs wife saying "Honey, I really want you to trade for our son" is silly. The only thing more ludicrous would be a coach or GM in the National Basketball Association heeding their spouse's request, putting their team under the bus and their career in jeopardy. This isn't daytime television. That would not happen in the real world.

Look no further than his tweet about Team USA and it's players. He basically said he was better than most of the guys on the team. All you have to do is ask yourself if he would have made those comments if he were still with N.O. or even Boston's trash heap. Nepotism is a strange drug. It makes the beneficiary act with a false sense superiority over others.He is the epitome of that person that talks and acts in a way that you just want to go BG on him. lol

Not gonna lie, Austin seems like a douche in most interviews I've seen. That being said, apart from CP3, down the stretch I was most comfortable with the ball in Austin's hands. Kid is arrogant but he doesn't tuck tail and run.

^^Meh, we all have to choose what we want to believe. Personally, the idea of a coach/GMs wife saying "Honey, I really want you to trade for our son" is silly. The only thing more ludicrous would be a coach or GM in the National Basketball Association heeding their spouse's request, putting their team under the bus and their career in jeopardy. This isn't daytime television. That would not happen in the real world.

Silly is not believing what is in front of your eyes. Silly is believing that Doc had to be convinced about saving his son's career by his staff. You also have to believe what Michael Eaves wrote. Not because of the specificity of his comments but because he was with the team on the road when CP3 came here. He was the ultimate insider for us. He had the opportunity to get close with the players which is something he has over anyone tweeting other reasons. You haven't read CP3 denying the report, amirite? I personally think CP3 trusted Eaves enough to get the story out so fans know why he left. Eaves' post on this matter is too specific for it to be just passed off as blather. After all, Micheal Eaves was the host of, "Before the Bigs". His job was to get close to the players and their families. I'd trust him over a random tweet that CP3 was mad that Rivers wasn't made a starter.

Not gonna lie, Austin seems like a douche in most interviews I've seen. That being said, apart from CP3, down the stretch I was most comfortable with the ball in Austin's hands. Kid is arrogant but he doesn't tuck tail and run.

Yeah, his arrogance really blossomed when he got here. Nepotism is a strange drug. If my daddy were on the bench too, I'd feel invincible too knowing my mistakes won't cut into my minutes.

Silly is not believing what is in front of your eyes. Silly is believing that Doc had to be convinced about saving his son's career by his staff. You also have to believe what Michael Eaves wrote. Not because of the specificity of his comments but because he was with the team on the road when CP3 came here. He was the ultimate insider for us. He had the opportunity to get close with the players which is something he has over anyone tweeting other reasons. You haven't read CP3 denying the report, amirite? I personally think CP3 trusted Eaves enough to get the story out so fans know why he left. Eaves' post on this matter is too specific for it to be just passed off as blather. After all, Micheal Eaves was the host of, "Before the Bigs". His job was to get close to the players and their families. I'd trust him over a random tweet that CP3 was mad that Rivers wasn't made a starter.

Really? Then how come this "inside info" didn't break until last week? If he was privy to the locker room, why did he suddenly inform the masses AFTER Chris Paul left? You're trying too hard. You want Eaves to be right. You want Doc to be proven an unfair coach and GM. You want Austin to be proven as a beneficiary of nepotism.

Pull up Google, search CP3 and you'll find Michael Eaves name linked in countless articles. That was Eaves' goal all along, look at "what is in front of your eyes."

No coach or GM would pull what you're suggesting. They wanted a "young, downhill" guard, and they got one.

Google nepotism. He was the beneficiary of that.

Cp3 hasn't denied the report. The only people denying the report are, Doc, Austin, and his sister. How do they know? Look at the TMZ Doc interview. He doesn't deny CP3 left because Austin. He does say not to make it about BG, DJ, and Austin Why would he answer that question, that way? Why not flat out deny it instead of adding two other players that were not mentioned along with his son? All I know id that a very specific report came out with specific incidents that drove CP3 out. This post is just too damn specific for it to be dismissed. What proof do you have? Doc's own words? That it?

In politics the appearance of corruption is almost as bad as corruption. Here the appearance of nepotism IS nepotism. It matters not if Dc favors him. If Austin had grown to be at least to a solid starter, it was/is a disaster. Remember, our bench was as exciting as a kale smoothie so he wasn't bad, he was less awful than the rest.

I think the main problem is that it was a conflict of interest to trade for him inthe first place. We can believe or not that it is a direct cause for CP3 leaving, but reality is that with the level of player that Austin is at this point it should be considered to much of a detriment to the team to continue having on our roster.

He has improved and I believe a solid NBA 2 guard bench player. With that said couldn't we get the same out of Justin Holliday, Garrett Temle without any issues. I mean it probably effects role players a lot more than a guy like CP in my opinion. I mean Wes, Alan, Felton, Lance, CJ and others had to be looking at this guy and saying how is this guy getting my minutes. I would be pulled out in a second with his type of mistakes. That can't leave a positive attitude with guys we needed to step up.

To be honest I felt that Lance severely outplayed Austin during his stint and never got half the chance that Austin did. Same goes for Wes, Alan and to a lesser extent Felton too.

In politics the appearance of corruption is almost as bad as corruption. Here the appearance of nepotism IS nepotism. It matters not if Dc favors him. If Austin had grown to be at least to a solid starter, it was/is a disaster. Remember, our bench was as exciting as a kale smoothie so he wasn't bad, he was less awful than the rest.

You beat me to it.

Lance was definitely a better all around fit than Austin at the time. Austin had been struggling from 3 and didn't get hot until after the all-star break. Lance does all the same things as Austin, but better with the added benefit of being able to play/defend the 3 which we've severely needed for years... Not as good from 3 but was shooting better than Austin at the time. Definitely one of those situations that makes you do a double take. However, trading Stephenson for Jeff Green seemed like a solid move at the time..

The whole Austin situation brought unnecessary drama to an already drama filled team. The climate/atmosphere of the Clippers organization has been pretty cloudy in that sense, off-court drama +constant injury frustration make looking for a fresh start and lower taxes much more appealing. I can see why Doc is saying not to make it about Blake, DJ or Austin, just because there's so many factors that go into a decision like that. It's probably more accurate to circle "all of the above" rather than pointing out a single factor.