Austin Rivers is not in the NBA anymore. That does not mean he cannot cook a random camper in a pair of loafers.
The former Duke star and 10-year NBA veteran showed up at Flow Shooting Academy in Orlando this week, accepted a challenge from a young hooper and proceeded to break the kid’s ankles in a way that would have made his father, Doc, proud.
The clip is now everywhere. Rivers takes a couple of casual jab steps, puts the ball on the floor, then stops on a dime just as the defender fully commits. The kid goes sliding across the gym floor. Rivers rises up, drains the jumper and turns his back before the ball is even through the net.
Here is the part that makes it art. He was wearing loafers.
Not basketball sneakers. Not even a broken-in pair of trainers. Actual leather loafers, which have all the grip of a bar of soap on a wet floor. Try planting hard on a crossover in dress shoes some time. You are going to end up on the floor next to the kid.
Rivers played 700-plus NBA games with the Hornets, Clippers, Wizards, Rockets, Knicks and Nuggets. He was never a star. He was always solid, especially as a scoring guard off the bench.
What people forget about Rivers is that he was a certified bucket in high school and at Duke. His mixtape from before he ever got to college is still one of the best of that era. The instincts, the quickness, the ability to create space in tight areas. That stuff never goes away.
The camper who volunteered for this deserves credit. That kid probably went home that night with a story he will tell for the rest of his life. Yes, he got embarrassed on video. He also got embarrassed by a real NBA veteran, and that is worth something.
Rivers has been busy since his playing days ended. He does media work and jumps into shooting academies and camps like this one. He clearly still loves the game, and he clearly still has moves.
The Flow Shooting Academy staff had to know what they were doing when they let this happen. They knew they were about to get a viral clip. They knew the internet was going to eat it up. Mission accomplished.
This kind of clip is why summer sports content exists. Nothing else is really happening in the NBA except the LeBron watch. A viral ankle-breaker from a retired pro in loafers is exactly the kind of chaos the offseason needs.
Rivers is not walking through NBA doors as a player again. He does not have to. He can just keep showing up at camps and reminding everyone that a real pro is on another level, even one who has been off the court for years.
The kid’s ankles will recover. The video will live forever.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
