LeBron James waited in the locker room with the ball in his hand, and Jordan Jr. hid with a bucket of ice water.
When Austin Rivers walked into the locker room, Jordan Jr. splashed a bucket of ice water on his head, James handed the ball to Rivers for collection, and staged a "head-to-head kill" to encourage teammates, and the Lakers locker room was full of laughter.
Ten minutes before this scene occurred, Rivers had just completed a big heart three-point shootout in Dallas, shocking the world. The Lakers have James, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis on the court, but it is a nobody who makes $930,000 a year to win.
Rivers' name quickly made it onto Twitter's hot search list, but many people are still asking, who is this little-known white guard?
You may know that he gave himself the nickname "Country Kobe" on media day this season, but you may not know how much Rivers has experienced along the way from losing the election to signing a two-way contract to becoming a regular contract and becoming the main rotation member of the Lakers.
Born in Newark, Arkansas, a small town with a population of less than 1,200 people, rivers the Rivers family made a living as a farmer. As Rivers rides his quad around his farm, he sees only hundreds of cows and endless rice paddies.
At that time, Rivers already had an NBA dream in his heart, but he didn't know if he could get out of the farm. "All you can do is dream, and going into the NBA is what I aspire to do, but I don't know if that's possible," Rivers said. ”
Like many of the stars who later entered the NBA, Rivers didn't like basketball so much at first, he preferred to play baseball, and before seventh grade, he was a very talented shortstop and batsman. After seventh grade, Rivers fell in love with basketball, but because he lived in the backcountry of Newark and was white, he not only did not get attention, but he was often despised. When Rivers played AAU, he would often hear opponents say, "I'm here to defend against this white boy." ”
"Most people don't know where Arkansas is, and most people don't know that Arkansas has basketball players," said Munch, who played against Rivers in the ninth grade and now plays for the Lakers.
But Rivers didn't succumb to fate or be knocked down by those contemptuous eyes. In order to get the attention of the NCAA first-tier league teams, Rivers began to perform crazy to prove himself. Facing 5A-level forcing Forrest City, Rivers scored 73 points in a three-overtime battle. Rivers then scored a 50+ high score in two games.
Rivers' performance finally attracted attention, and the University of Whitney's State University eventually awarded him a scholarship. Rivers struggled to overcome the difficulties to land in the NCAA First Division, but fate once again gave him a problem, and a shoulder injury entangled Rivers.
In the 2016-17 season, Rivers' freshman year, he had to undergo surgery for a dislocation of his right shoulder, and after a long recovery period he finally came back and became a reliable role player. At Whitchta State, Rivers never averaged in doubles, and to prove he could play higher levels, Rivers transferred to the University of Oklahoma. In the 2020-21 season, Rivers averaged 18.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game in his final season. In the second round of the NCAA Championship, Rivers scored 27 points, but unfortunately the University of Oklahoma lost to the powerful Gonzaga.
After his college career, Rivers began preparing for landing in the NBA, taking part in trials scheduled by as many as 17 teams, including the Lakers. Originally, the Pistons had informed Rivers' agent that they would use the No. 42 sign to select Rivers and then sign a two-way contract with him. But Rivers' agency declined the Pistons, telling them that unless the Pistons come up with a guarantee contract, they prefer to sign a team that will benefit Rivers after the draft.
Rivers was willing to lose the election in order to join the Lakers. In his opinion, it is far better to hear his name called at the draft than to play in a team that is conducive to his future development. In this way, Rivers signed the Lakers on a two-way contract and turned regular at the end of September, earning a standard contract.
At the beginning, no one could have imagined that Rivers could enter the Lakers rotation at the beginning of the season, and the Lakers' injury wave gave Rivers a chance, and he also seized the opportunity. Before the hamstring strain, he had sat in the rotation and became the main substitute for averaging 20+ minutes per game. In the Eyes of the Lakers, Rivers is the equivalent of Caruso's stand-in, and they are ready to train Rivers into a new generation of Caruso.
"He's like Caruso, the kind of player who has the gene to win," Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy said, "a lot of people look down on him, but he's not afraid to fight anybody, he's a very competitive player, and I love his fearless spirit." ”
Today, Rivers has gained a foothold in the Lakers with his tenacious defense at the expense of physical strength, accurate three-pointers and big hearts, and super high basketball IQ. Several of the team's bigwigs have fully recognized him, and James once said at the video analysis meeting that when Rivers defended against the opponent's arrow figure, others did not need to go up and help defend. Even Westbrook and Rondo have praised Rivers' big heart and toughness.
With so many future Hall of Fame-level stars praised, Rivers did not float, he knew that with so many great stars on the same team is not for him to chase the stars, play their role around them, and constantly consolidate their position is his task.
Rivers said the words his grandmother had told him as a child had always haunted him:
"Fight with all your might, have a brain, and then be your true self."