Former NBA player and current sports analyst Austin Rivers was on ESPN's “The Pat McAfee show” where he spoke about a multitude of topics in the world of basketball. One of the conversations they all had was Rivers talking about his future which could possibly involve him in a coaching position.
As they were talking about the impending NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves, McAfee threw in a comment after about how he is much smarter from hearing Rivers give his opinion on basketball. After a few moments, it would lead to McAfee asking Rivers about potentially being in a coaching or executive role in the NBA where the former player revealed “that is a long term goal” for him, comparing himself to JJ Redick.
“That is a long term goal of mine,” Rivers said. “You see what JJ’s doing, I have a similar path in mind of what I’m trying to do in terms of using the media, and loving being a part of the media and transferring it to a coaching job or a front office job like my father. I’m 31 so I want to put in some time, I’ve got to put in some work, another 4 or 5 years of really like building and networking and obviously getting on here, but a goal of mine is I want to be back in the show, I want to compete man.”
How Austin Rivers feels about the talk of nepotism
Some may not be shocked to hear his aspirations as his father, Doc Rivers, has been an NBA head coach since 1999 where he has been at the helm of such teams as the Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, and now with the Milwaukee Bucks. However, Austin Rivers said to McAfee that he would not want the job purely out of nepotism since his father was an accomplished head coach.
“Well that would be nepotism, I don’t want that,” Rivers said. “I’ve only been around the NBA since I was 6, you know I might know a little bit of something about knowing how to run a team possibly, maybe I don’t know.”
Rivers has been an NBA player since 2012 where he has been part of seven teams most recently with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2023. He mentioned how besides his father, he wants to follow in the footsteps of Redick who has been a popular sports analyst for ESPN, but is now in the running for head coaching positions.
It is heavily rumored that he will be the next head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers after they fired Darvin Ham, which makes some sense since Redick has a relationship with LeBron James, as the two have a podcast together. Even senior NBA insider for Bleacher Report Chris Haynes was on “The Dan Patrick Show” and expressed how he would be “very surprised” if the former player is not in the position for Los Angeles.
“I will be very surprised if their next head coach is anybody but JJ Redick,” Haynes said. “Everything that I'm hearing is JJ Redick. From what I know he's doing some background, calling some assistant coaching candidates who might be able to join his staff.”
Rivers talks about the NBA Finals
Other than what Austin Rivers wants to do in the foreseeable future, he also spoke about the NBA Finals where he previewed the Celtics taking on the Mavericks. He detailed the several storylines in the championship series as there will be reunions involving Kristaps Porzingis and Kyrie Irving facing their former teams. Also, the answer of the “best duo in the league.”
“Porzingis is gonna be back in Dallas, Kyrie is gonna be back in Boston after a lot was there. Stepping on the court, saging the floor, flicking off fans,” Rivers said. “You got who is the best duo in the league. is it Brown and Tatum, or is it Luka and Kyrie.”
In any sense, Rivers will continue his work in the sports media world, but there is no doubt that he has other aspirations.
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