(PHOTO CREDIT: NBA.)
I want to apologize to Austin Rivers.
I only saw him play a couple of games in college. I wondered why he was so highly touted. I didn’t like his body language. I didn’t like his shooting mechanics. And I thought he needed to stay in college. But, nevertheless, he went out and got picked by the then-New Orleans Hornets with the 10th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
He languished in New Orleans. Austin Rivers jokes were flying around. Then early in 2015, he got traded to Boston. Almost immediately, the Clippers (who had Austin’s dad as coach and GM) traded for him. What was remarkable was that the Clips traded/let go of THREE players (Reggie Bullock, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Jordan Farmar) just to get Austin. The trade was, of course, made fun of and we all made nepotism jokes. Well, maybe a lot of fans weren’t joking.
The Austin Rivers jokes continued. A couple of days after a funny-looking play resulted in a Rivers turnover, I did a podcast with a friend where we just RAILED on Doc’s son. I even made an awful “the birds and the bees” joke.
A few hours after that podcast came out, something else happened. He scored 25 points in an important playoff game against the Rockets. I felt bad when I saw this happening. The jokes continued to flow from Twitter, of course, because nothing is friggin’ sacred on that platform. So then…
See what you guys made me do? I'm unironically rooting for Austin Rivers to do well now.
— Rey-Rey (@TheNoLookPass) May 9, 2015
Austin Rivers won me over after that game. But it seemed like a lot of them still thought he was a joke. And because I couldn’t resist a daddy/son joke, I still continued with DADDY, DID I DO GOOD?! comments. However, I knew Austin was good after that; this season, he blossomed to become a legit rotation player on both sides of the ball. Austin had games where he would have a nice 16 or 18-point performance when the Clipper stars couldn’t get it done. I even defended him from others who still didn’t like his play.
Yet it took him getting hurt to finally win the respect of most NBA fans. He received an elbow to the face that would’ve knocked anyone out for the rest of the night. Not Austin. He came back and scored 21 points in an indelible effort; he basically played with only one eye. Austin may not have won the game but he won the hearts of many people and his peers.
Austin Rivers, I’m sorry for ever doubting you. I apologize for saying you’re a bust and sometimes, even rooting for you to fail just to say I’m right. I apologize for trivializing your relationship with your father, Doc Rivers. I apologize for all the nepotism jokes. And I apologize for putting a ceiling on you as a basketball player.
I’ll also apologize for not acknowledging your toughness. I’m sure you hear all the chatter. But it takes a tough human being to ignore all the noise. Staying focused as a professional athlete is tougher than we think. And we now realize that Austin Rivers is tough both mentally and physically.
I’m sorry you had to get hurt to win a lot of people over.
Follow Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass for all tweets about the NBA and terrible pop music. Also, check out his podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental.
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