Austin Rivers Would ‘Love’ to Play for Dad, Celtics

by abournenesn

Mar 30, 2012

Austin Rivers Would 'Love' to Play for Dad, CelticsDoc Rivers mentioned late last year that he's not even sure he would even want to coach his son in the NBA, if that opportunity were ever to arise. But it appears the younger Rivers actually likes the idea of possibly donning Celtics green in the future.

Austin Rivers admitted that he has thought about the possibility of being selected by the Celtics during an interview on the Dennis & Callahan Show. He expressed a definite interest in playing for the C's and even verged on the side of desire when speaking about playing under the guidance of his father in Boston.

"If that was to happen, I would love to," Rivers said on Friday morning. "I would love to play for any organization in the NBA. That's my dream. It would be great. It would be different. It would be an interesting aspect just to play for my dad."

The 19-year-old starred during his freshman season at Duke, scoring 15.4 points per game and most memorably sinking a buzzer-beater to take down rival North Carolina on Feb. 8. The second-seeded Blue Devils were upset in the first round of this year's NCAA Tournament by No. 15 Lehigh.

There has been some speculation that the former No. 1 recruit in the country might have problems taking leadership from his father. But a seemingly more mature Austin Rivers dismissed that notion on Friday, explaining he just wants to be coached like any other player.

"If I'm messing up, I want him to be hard on me. If I'm doing good, I want him to pat me on the back. That's the way he coaches," Rivers said during the radio interview. "However he coaches (Rajon) Rondo or Kevin Garnett or Avery Bradley or any other player on that team, I want him to coach me. I don't want anything handed to me. I never have my whole life. I would have to mature and accept that responsibility. That's one of the things you look forward to when you decide to go pro."

Rivers, who was named the ACC freshman of the year, anticipates being selected in the first round of June's NBA Draft and could even be a lottery pick, making him likely out of the Celtics reach. A thought that has already crossed the minds of Doc Rivers and the Boston Celtics.

Doc explained during an interview with Dennis & Callahan on Thursday that he wants to do what's best for the team, and he isn't going to pressure Danny Ainge or the Celtics into drafting his son.

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