"I wanna be a head coach" - Austin Rivers surprisingly aims to follow Doc Rivers' legacy
After being a lottery pick in 2012, Austin Rivers enjoyed a decent NBA career that spanned a little over a decade. He is now enjoying a career in broadcasting, but the journeyman guard would like to follow in his father's footsteps.
While on the "Pat McAfee" show, Rivers touched on some of his long-term career goals. He envisions himself following a similar path as J.J. Redick, starting out in the media before eventually moving into coaching.
"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 transferring into a coaching job or front office job like my father. I wanna be a head coach and run a team at some point," he added.
Austin Rivers, 31, is just a year after stepping out of the NBA. During the 2023 season, he appeared in 52 games with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
As Rivers mentioned, if he goes this route, he'll be following a similar path as his father. Doc Rivers spent a year as a broadcaster following retirement before going into a 20+ year run as a head coach. He transitioned back into a broadcasting role this year before eventually being hired to coach the Milwaukee Bucks.
Similar to JJ Redick, Austin appears on ESPN at times to help cover the league as a whole. He also started his own podcast titled "Off Guard."
Austin Rivers speaks on endless storylines in 2024 NBA Finals
Before getting into his aspirations of becoming a head coach, Austin Rivers gushed over the endless storylines in the NBA Finals. After the Dallas Mavericks knocked off the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday night, the stage is set for them to battle it out with the Boston Celtics.
Among the main things Rivers brought up in terms of storylines were Kyrie Irving and Kristaps Porzingis taking on their former teams.
"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.
"This is a great, great finals. I'm very excited." he added.
Another thing that Austin Rivers brought up was the defensive battle surrounding the Mavericks star duo. Mainly, if Derrick White and Jrue Holiday will be able to slow down Luka Doncic and Irving.
After giving all of his favorite storylines, Rivers also snuck in a prediction. He thinks the Celtics are going to win it all but isn't fully counting out the Mavericks given what they've accomplished thus far.