Austin Rivers Had A Hilarious Exchange With Doc Rivers During A Pre-Game Interview

Father-son duos are always an interesting attraction in the NBA. On Monday night, the Rivers tandem was no exception.

Prior to the Milwaukee Bucks’ matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, NBC analyst Austin Rivers had the pleasure of interviewing his father, Doc Rivers, who is in his first full season as Milwaukee’s head coach. The minute-long segment was as entertaining to the viewing audience as it was to the Rivers gentlemen themselves.

“Doc, you guys are 8–6 in the year…” Austin began.

“Doc, that’s my name?” his father fired back. Unfazed, the younger Rivers replied, “Tonight.”

This isn’t just playful banter: It’s a poetic moment for Doc, who has spent multiple years as a TV broadcaster covering the NBA in between his stints as head coach for different teams. Though Austin is two years into his own career as an on-air personality, this pre-game interview with his dad certainly gives off some “I’ve arrived” energy.

The most professional part of the conversation happened when Austin asked his father to outline Milwaukee’s points for improvement. Doc obliged by saying that his team needs to get better at rebounding, limit their fouls, and attack the paint more aggressively. (The Bucks, however, ended up getting out-rebounded and committing more fouls as they lost 118–106 to the Cavs.)

After bringing up the Xs and Os, Austin went for the jokes once again. “Are you excited about me tonight, hovering around your huddles?” he asked, referring to NBC’s new feature of sending analysts to have an up-close-and-personal look at teams’ timeouts.

“You’ve hovered around me my whole life,” the equally quick-witted Doc replied. “So this part will be easy, right?”

The elder Rivers, who has two other sons and a daughter in addition to Austin, then issued a thinly veiled warning. “Don’t say anything that you shouldn’t say,” he said with a chuckle.

Austin wrapped things up by asking his father why he couldn’t have gotten his third child a mid-level contract in the offseason. An 11-year NBA veteran, Austin last played in the league back in the 2022–23 campaign, when he was playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

At this point, however, the role of analyst appears to suit the 33-year-old just fine. Austin appeared to have realized this and cut off his father before another hilarious response could be delivered.

“Actually, I don’t even want you to answer. How dare you?” he told Doc before sending it back to the NBC studio.