Austin Rivers responds to JJ Redick's criticism of father Doc
Former championship winning head coach Doc Rivers took over as the head man for the Milwaukee Bucks. However, it’s been a rough ride since then, which has opened him up to criticism, including from one of his former players turned analyst, JJ Redick.
Redick’s criticism was largely based on what he sees as excuses that Rivers is making for the poor performance of his teams and what he sees as a general lack of accountability.
Those were comments that Austin Rivers, a former NBA player and the son of Doc Rivers, took issue with and responded to during an appearance on ESPN.
“First off, I don’t feel responsible to take up for my dad,” Austin Rivers said. “He’s a grown man. He can do his own thing, but in this regard, I just simply don’t agree with it. For someone [Doc] who’s not accountable, he seems to always be held responsible, considering he’s always fired when things don’t go right.”
“He got fired in the bubble for a 3-1 lead vs. the Denver Nuggets. Half his team didn’t want to be there, had guys saying their mind wasn’t there, had guys leave. That happened. Then he gets fired for losing to a team that was favored over him, which was the Celtics last year. It seems like he’s always responsible, so it’s strange coming from JJ. I have some love for JJ…it’s just your best years were with the Clippers. I don’t think he saved your career, I appreciate you, Pat [Beverley].”
The comment about Patrick Beverley was about comments he had made in response to JJ Redick. There, he claimed Doc Rivers saved Redick’s career, which Redick in turn argued against.
Still, the comments don’t make sense to Austin Rivers given the context of the Bucks’ season.
“This just seems a little bit weird. They’re 3-7. [Damian Lillard] has missed most of those games. [Khris] Middleton has missed most of those games. They haven’t even had their full team yet. We’ll see what happens. The pressure is there. They do have to perform, but in terms of accountability, what are we doing here?”
For his part, JJ Redick played in the NBA from the 2006-07 through the 2020-21 season. During that time, he played for Doc Rivers with the Los Angeles Clippers. That crossed over with when Austin Rivers played for the Clippers as well. However, those weren’t necessarily the best years of his career, as he played more minutes and scored more points per game in Philadelphia.
Still, Austin Rivers wondered if that time colored JJ Redick’s opinion today.
“Your best years in the NBA were when you played for him and the Clippers. Let’s not forget that. I don’t know if there’s frustration there, there’s tension there between you. I know a lot of times we had to sit you toward the end of the game due to defensive reasons, but you had your best years as a starter there. Our whole system was drafted around you because you’re a shooter,” Rivers said.
“You’re not a guy who can put the ball on the floor. You were a strictly shoot guy. You’re not like Klay Thompson or Steph [Curry] who can put the ball on the floor. You’re a guy who can catch and shoot, and you did it at a high level, hell of a career, by the way. Big fan. But your best years were under him. It’s just very ironic and kind of weird that you have this energy towards him and never, ever being accountable considering he’s always been responsible.”
JJ Redick’s full comments on Doc Rivers
The full comments that JJ Redick made about Doc Rivers help to explain his position on the famed coach.
“I’ve seen the trend for years. The trend is always making excuses. Doc, we get it taking over a team in the middle of the season. It’s hard. It’s hard. We get it. Just like getting traded in the middle of the season is hard for a player. We get it,” Redick said.
“But it’s always an excuse. It’s always throwing your team under the bus. They lose to Memphis. Oh, it’s his players. Memphis was playing G League guys and two way guys. You look at his quotes over the weekend. Now he wants to take credit for the James Harden trade to the Clippers working out? He wants credit for that? There’s never accountability with that guy. There’s never accountability.”