Austin Rivers sounds off on his former head coach Tom Thibodeau: He didn't treat me well at all

Austin Rivers: “First day of camp, this is a true story… [this is] my first time really talking to him since signing there,” Thibodeau comes up to me and says, ‘Hey man, excited for you to be here. I wanted Derrick [Rose], but you’ll do great. You’ll do great.’ And he walked away. And I remember thinking to myself, ‘Hmm. Not gonna be here long.’ Within a month or two, guess who’s on the team? Derrick Rose. I already knew I was on my way out,” Rivers said. -via athlonsports.com / June 13, 2025

“And the way it went down and the way they handled business was crazy, bro,” Rivers revealed. “They brought me to a dark room, it was Leon [Rose], Worldwide Wes [Knicks executive vice president and senior basketball advisor William Wesley], and Thibs. They’re all three sitting there in the dark, with like a little light, it’s like an interrogation-type thing. ‘Hey man, we’re gonna move you, we just got Derrick here. Until we find the right spot with you, you don’t have to travel with the team anymore.’” -via athlonsports.com / June 13, 2025

Austin Rivers: For what you might lack in a contract and taxes. Let’s talk about that. You know, it’s 37% government, federal. On top of that, you have state tax if you’re in New York, which is an additional around 13%. We’re looking at 50% off the top. So, if you’re making 2 million, when you see a guy making 50 million, he’s making 25. If he’s making 30 a year, he’s making 15. They cut that motherf*cker in half playing there. So, what you might lack in money, you’ll get in the secondary with endorsements and marketing. Josh Hart is every bit of an average role player. Okay. And he’s good. He’s a good role player. He hustles, but you see in the playoffs like sometimes he can’t really can’t create his own shot. Doesn’t have the capability to make a play for somebody else. He’s like a hustle guy. This guy was on like a Wheaties box last year. -via YouTube / June 13, 2025