101 Greats of European Basketball

The man of the final
Everything pointed to a splendid future in
the NBA for David Lee Rivers. He spent four
brilliant years at the University of Notre
Dame, where he was the fourth-best scorer
all-time with 2,058 points and second in
assists with 586. And he was picked by the
Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 1988 NBA
Draft. All this despite a car accident that could have
put an end not only to his career, but to his life, two
years earlier.
After several operations, Rivers, who was born on
January 20, 1965, in Jersey City, New Jersey, managed
to overcome every single obstacle. The fact that he was
selected by one of the best teams in the NBA did have a
bad side though: he would have strong competition. At
his position was none other than Magic Johnson, which
meant that Rivers would not play many minutes. But
under Pat Riley’s command, he practiced alongside the
likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Orlando
Woolridge, A.C. Green, Byron Scott, Michael Cooper,
Jeff Lamp and Mychal Thompson. Rivers finished the
season with 1.9 points and 2.3 assists. A little frustrated,
he decided to switch teams but stayed in the same
city. He signed for the Los Angeles Clippers, where he
managed to improve his figures the following season,
though not by a lot: 4.2 points and 3.0 assists. Between
injuries and rehabilitation, he chose another team, Tulsa
of the Continental Basketball Association, and he
got his confidence back with 16.1 points and 7.6 assists
per game. He even improved his averages in La Crosse,
another CBA team, with 20.3 points and 11.8 assists.
But it was not what he wanted, nor what he deserved.
Europe, his new kingdom
In one of those decisions that can change one’s
life, Rivers took an offer from Antibes of France. In that
country, he discovered another kind of basketball, another
culture, another lifestyle. He adapted easily and
quickly to it because his qualities allowed him to be a
team leader. Soon enough he was the idol of the fans. In
his first season in Europe, in 1992-93, he averaged 16.9
points and 6.6 assists, but he got better the following
campaign. Antibes won the French League title and he
was MVP with 22.4 points and 7.0 assists. The big clubs
of Europe started noticing David Rivers.
The fastest team to act with a more concrete offer
was Olympiacos Piraeus of Greece. In his first season in
Greece, Rivers won the 1995-96 domestic league title
with decent numbers, 13.6 points and 4.3 assists. But
the fact that Panathinaikos that year became the first
Greek team to win the EuroLeague was a sting that created
an urge for an answer among the Reds. The 1996-
97 season would see veteran coach Dusan Ivkovic put
together a strong roster, but the start of the campaign
didn’t look too promising.
In the EuroLeague, Olympiacos finished fifth with
a 5-5 record in the same group with Fortitudo, Estudiantes,
Cibona, ALBA Berlin and Charleroi. The Reds lost
twice to ALBA and once to Estudiantes, Cibona and
Fortitudo. The team was only saved by the competition
system: all 24 teams continued, mixing up the first
three teams in each group with the last three of the other.
In the second phase, Olympiacos got better playing
against Olimpia Milano, CSKA Moscow and Maccabi Tel
Aviv. It won 4 games and lost 2 for a total record of 9-7
101 greats of european basketball
David Rivers
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