Report: Austin Rivers Cleared Air With CP3 Over Rumors Of Discord
Ryan Mayer
Following the blockbuster sign-and-trade that sent Chris Paul to Houston in return for a cadre of players, there were reports circulating of some of the reasons that allegedly led to Paul's exit. ESPN anchor Michael Eaves reported on his Facebook page that Paul was disgruntled over the way that head coach and President of Basketball Operations Doc Rivers handled his son Austin being on the team. It wasn't the first report of Paul and Rivers not seeing eye-to-eye, but it was the first that named Doc's son as one of the reasons.
According to USA Today's NBA insider Sam Amick, that report upset Austin Rivers to the point where he reached out to Paul via phone to try and get to the bottom of the matter.
"I called Chris and was like, 'Chris, what's going on?''" Austin Rivers told USA TODAY Sports while in town to watch NBA summer league. "Chris is like, 'This is the biggest bull(expletive) I've ever seen in my life.' Chris was just like, 'This is a joke.' So I asked him, I'm like, 'You don't need to come out and say nothing publicly, I don't need you to do that. It's just going to make it even more, now they're going to drag it out two more days."
Amick's report has more on the conversation between the two former teammates, but the end game is that all seems to be settled now. Rivers is entering the second year of a three-year $35 million deal that he signed during last year's free agency period. He's coming off his best season statistically, averaging 12 points and 2.8 assists per game in a little over 27 minutes per game with the team last season.