Really good story by Arash Markazi, which kind of shatters the narrative that ensued when the Clippers traded for the "coaches son"
http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/clippers/post/_/id/8096/doc-rivers-stays-strong-in-eye-of-clippers-storm“She was his rock,” Austin Rivers said. “My father’s a very private person. I mean a very private person. His life outside of basketball, he doesn’t really share it with anybody.”
When Doc, in need of a back-up point guard, traded for Austin midway through last season, it was easy to point to nepotism, but the truth is Austin and Doc have never really had a true father-and-son relationship. While Doc was coaching the Boston Celtics from 2004 to 2013, Austin was growing up in Winter Park, Florida, going to Duke and getting drafted by New Orleans. The two of them have probably spent more time together over the past year and half than Austin can remember. The closest they ever actually got to having a father-son relationship was when they would visit Bettye together.
“He doesn’t really share his life outside of basketball with me,” Austin said. “He and I don’t know each other like that. We know each other as strictly basketball. A lot of people on the outside don’t understand that because people think we have a relationship like every other father and son. We just don’t. That’s because he’s been gone my whole life, and that’s fine.
"It’s worked out for the both of us. But the one person he could always really be with was his mom. That’s the toughest thing I’ve ever seen him go through; more than the Sterling stuff and even when his dad passed away. His mom was everything to him. I’ve never seen him like that.”
Doc and Austin may never have the prototypical father-son relationship many on the outside would like to think they do, but the Rivers family is now closer than they have been in years. Not only is Austin on the Clippers but Doc’s daughter, Callie, lives in Los Angeles and is a staple at home games. His youngest son, Spencer, is a guard on the UC Irvine basketball team. After the game Rivers will routinely go back to his office and hug Callie, who waits for him to finish his postgame media conference.