- Austin Rivers has played in the NBA for 11 seasons
- Rivers says mini-camps are garbage
- Rivers claims that the players are only focused on women
Austin Rivers spent over a decade in the NBA, and he thinks mini-camps aren’t really all that useful from a basketball standpoint. On the latest episode of Off Guard With Austin Rivers, he shed some light on what exactly goes on in those camps.
“Mini-camps are garbage by the way,” Rivers said. “I love them because it’s an excuse to get away from the whole household, and you can go have fun with your friends for a couple of days. It’s always in a conveniently good city.”
Stephen Curry hosted a mini-camp in Las Vegas earlier this month and Rivers believes locations like that, which are the norm for these camps, are far from ideal.
“You’re not doing mini-camps in Alabama,” Rivers continued. “There’s usually a mini-camp in f***ing Miami or like. ‘We’re doing a mini-camp in Vegas guys. Let’s lock in and focus.’ (Laughs) I don’t know how much focusing we’re going to be doing in Vegas. We’re going to be in the gym for 2 hours…”
When asked about the off-the-court camaraderie angle that is involved here, Rivers revealed all the focus off the court is just on women.
“The Off-court camaraderie is never in question, because it’s always centered around one thing: women, women, and then more women,” Rivers added. “Never have to worry about that because every guy in the league loves that.”
(starts at 51:26 mark):
While that might be the case for a certain segment of players, I’d like to believe the very best would be focused on the task at hand, which is getting to work. The likes of Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant don’t strike me as the types who would slack off during mini-camp and go chasing after women.
Maybe the fact that they’re not doing it, could be why they’ve managed to be so great for so long. They have their fun when it’s the right time for that, but when it comes to work, they’re locked in.
Austin Reaves Is A Great Success Story From Mini-Camp
On the topic of LeBron, he seems to hold a players-only mini-camp before the start of every season to build chemistry. The one held back in 2021, in particular, proved to be quite beneficial for him and the Los Angeles Lakers as well.
Reportedly, Austin Reaves convinced LeBron and Anthony Davis that the Lakers needed him by balling out at the mini-camp. The two superstars were so impressed with the youngster that they told management he needed to be on their roster, and not on a two-way deal.
The Lakers listened to them and even before Reaves played an actual NBA game, he managed to land a standard contract with the Lakers.
Jalen Williams Spoke About Avoiding The Trappings When It Comes To Women
It is not easy for a lot of these players to resist their urges when it comes to women, especially if they are being approached by the ladies. Jalen Williams, who had a fine rookie season in 2022-23, has been doing his best to avoid the trappings that come with being an NBA player
Williams explained that attractive women try to trap NBA players during hotel stays. He stated that they know about the schedules and wait for players to have good games, after which they’ll contact them to go out for dinner.
Williams revealed that these meetings can end up being quite costly, as wallets go missing, and some unauthorized pictures are also taken at times. The 22-year-old managed to steer clear of all of that and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting to Paolo Banchero.
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