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Austin Rivers speaks with Woj

Austin Rivers sat down with Adrian Wojnarowski on the Vertical podcast to talk about the ending of the Clippers' season and his own career. Check out what Austin had to say.

By Kenneth Armstrong
Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

Austin Rivers earned himself a lot of attention with his gutsy Game Six performance despite an eventual loss against the Portland Trail Blazers. This attention has recently included an interview with Adrian 'Woj' Wojnarowski of The Vertical.

The two talked about Game Six, the recovery of his eye, and his relationship with Jamal Crawford, among other things. Check out some notable quotes from the interview (quotes retrieved from Clippers.com):

"It was crazy, people were hitting me up that I haven’t heard from in a long time," Rivers said. "I don’t really look at comments and stuff on Instagram or Twitter, but Jamal (Crawford) was like, ‘Man, you should just look at them.’ I looked at them, and it was crazy, because it was a complete (180) of what it was in New Orleans."

It is not surprising that Austin would stay away from social media commentary -- most players do. Largely due to his last name, he gets a lot of undeserved criticism. But it is nice to know that Clippers Nation was able to provide some encouragement and let Austin know that we appreciated his efforts through the internet.

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"He was doing his job, the same thing I’m going to be doing when I have kids one day," Austin said. "It is what it is, I’m not complaining…He was providing for our family. When he could, he would be there if he needed to be, whether he had to fly back at 2 o’clock at night just to see a practice of mine."

Here, Austin is commentating on his relationship with his father, Doc Rivers, who was gone a lot during his childhood. He also noted that him and Doc had an understanding that if he did not play well, Doc would not sign him back to the team. It is nearly impossible to understand how the two could make this complex relationship work, but nonetheless they have.

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"Now, it’s obviously a whole different story and a whole different situation," Austin said. "I’m taking it day by day. I love my teammates here, I’ve learned so much since I’ve been here, how to be a man, how to be a player, just how to be a professional, how to work at it, how to be a leader.

"We’ll see. This is a new situation for me."

This quote came during reflection on his contract situation. Rivers' career, as he notes, has gone through a huge turnaround: now, he is a now a coveted player, instead of a player desperately trying to stay in the league. Therefore, he is still figuring out exactly how and where he wants the rest of his career to play out.

To hear more from the interview, check out the tweet below:

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