Austin Rivers is currently trending after he chose to defend his dad, coach Doc Rivers, from the TV scrutiny of JJ Redick, who said Rivers was never held accountable during his tenures with various teams.
The biggest push of Austin River’s argument was that JJ Reddick had his best years under Rivers when they were both with the Clippers.
Except Austin Rivers is wrong.
Reddick in fact had his best years with the Philadelphia 76ers where he averaged more points, minutes, and assists than he did when he was in Los Angeles.
There is nothing wrong with Austin Rivers choosing to defend his dad. And show producers have to love this kind of beef because its interesting television that results in higher ratings and if it doesn’t go too far than it can usually attract more eyeballs.
Then there is Reddick’s own approach behind the desk. He also pulls no punches and has gone directly at Stephen A. Smith on a few occasions during heated debate.
But when Rivers chose to criticize JJ’s game is when he went wrong.
This is because Reddick also had a better career than Austin Rivers.
Reddick averaged more points and logged more minutes than “Sub Zero”. The two were comparable on everything else.
It’s possible that Rivers could still find himself on a roster sometime but right now, it’s tough to take his attack on Reddick’s style of play, when he couldn’t even live up to it.
But it bears repeating, this is great for sports television, and I don’t expect this to be the last time Austin Rivers is trending for something he said.
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