Austin Rivers Urged Refs to Give His Dad a Technical and Taunted Him When They Did

It's going to be an awkward Thanksgiving at the Rivers household.

November 14, 2019

For a game that featured the likes of Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook, who could have predicted that Austin Rivers would be the one making headlines?

That’s exactly what happened when the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Clippers squared off on Wednesday, in what many believe could be a preview of the Western Conference Finals.

As time winded down, and with the game seemingly out of reach for the Clippers after a prolific 47-point performance by Harden, things got testy, when Clippers coach Doc Rivers furiously argued a referee call. Standing mere feet away, Doc’s son Austin taunted his father and egged the referee on to give him a technical.

Clearly it worked, because Doc was eventually ejected from the game. But his son couldn’t leave well enough alone, and signaled for his dad to call him, presumably after he’s had time to cool off. After the game, Austin tweeted about the awkward familial implications of Wednesday night.

While the younger Rivers was just having a little fun with his pops, it might also have subliminally been a little bit of payback, too.

Remember, it was just last year that Doc unceremoniously traded his son to the Washington Wizards for center Martin Gortat. But if their relationship can survive that, we’re pretty sure it’ll survive this too.

Once the dust had settled, Austin was still trolling his father.

Meanwhile, Doc seemed pleased by his son's antics.

Needless to say, Twitter was abuzz after the Rivers' gave the NBA a night to remember.