"Thank you for not siding with delusion": Austin Rivers claps back at Stephen Jackson for slamming his Bronny James comments
Austin Rivers recently sparked quite a bit of debate after making some controversial comments regarding Bronny James' future in the league. While Bronny James has yet to even declare for the NBA draft, there has been plenty of talk regarding whether he and his father will play together on the same team. While weighing in, Rivers used his own experience to discuss things.
Although LeBron James has made it clear that he either wants to play with, or against, his son, it's unclear which rout the two will take. As Austin Rivers explained this week, he doesn't want to see Bronny play alongside LeBron because of the pressure that comes with it.
NBA vet Stephen Jackson refuted the claim, pointing out that there's a big difference between Austin Rivers and his father, and Bronny and his dad. The comments from Jackson only further amplified the discussion around Austin Rivers' comments, leading to others weighing in.
Since then, Rivers has now taken to social media to share his thoughts on the situation, clapping back at Jackson on Twitter. As he wrote:
"All smiles…I didn’t even have to fight my own battles with ignorance, yall corrected it for me!! Thank you for not siding with delusion. Have a blessed day."
Looking at Austin Rivers’ previous comments, and Stephen Jackson’s scathing response
Austin Rivers’ response to Stephen Jackson this week came on the heels of the NBA vet ripping him for his thoughts on Bronny James’ future. While Rivers was complementary of Bronny James, saying that he has a high-level basketball IQ, he simply doesn’t feel like playing alongside his father would be best for his career.
Speaking on a recent episode of NBA Today on ESPN, Austin Rivers weighed in on the big question heading into the upcoming NBA draft: How much will Bronny impact LeBron’s future next season.
I went through something similar. It’s a very similar situation, but also different. I was already in the NBA when I went to play for him.. What happens is people try to discredit what you’ve done. …”
"I don't want to see Bronny play with [LeBron]... Him getting drafted & playing with his dad, I don't want that negativity to come his way. He doesn't deserve it... [He needs to] play somewhere where he can niche out his own identity.”
In a post on Instagram that highlighted Austin Rivers’ comments, Stephen Jackson fired back in the comments section, taking aim at Rivers with a scathing insult.
“Difference is you trash, Bronny not You can't compare to him scrub. And your daddy not LeBron. Shut up.”
Of course, as previously mentioned, Bronny has yet to declare for the draft, and is currently in the midst of the USC NCAA basketball season. While the expectation is that he will declare for the draft and be selected in the first round, there’s still plenty of time for things to change.
At the same time, there has been plenty of talk of LeBron James’ future given his apparent frustrations with the LA Lakers as of late. With things still up in the air, it will be interesting to see how Bronny’s upcoming eligibility impacts his father’s decision.