Stephen Jackson Slams Austin Rivers Over Bronny James Comments: ‘You Trash’

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Former NBA forward Stephen Jackson didn’t take kindly to free agent guard Austin Rivers’ comments regarding his desire to see USC guard Bronny James play on a separate NBA team than his father, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.

“Difference is you trash, Bronny not,” Jackson said in a comment on a Sideline Sports Instagram post. “You can’t compare to him scrub.”

He also added: “And your daddy not LeBron. Shut up.”

Rivers made his comments to ESPN’s Malika Andrews on NBA Today (5:00 mark), noting that he didn’t want to see Bronny receive the scrutiny that he did when he played for his father, then-Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers.

“I mean, I hope it doesn’t happen. I don’t wanna see Bronny play with his dad, I really don’t,” Rivers began.

“I went through something similar. It was a very similar situation, but also different. I was already in the NBA when I went to go play for [Rivers]. What happens is people start to discredit everything that you’ve done. This kid has been in the limelight since he was born. first day on Instagram he had a million followers. He’s handled it so well, he’s played well at Sierra Canyon amongst talent and was able to get himself to a school like USC.

Right now, his numbers don’t scream pro, so if he is to go in the draft, or if he gets picked, it would be great if he gets picked up by a contending team that can help him, put him in a situation, because he does have talent, he does have basketball IQ, he has potential.

“Him going to play with his dad, at this point of his career, just because Bronny’s success isn’t in a top-tier level. Him getting drafted and playing with his dad, it just, I don’t want that negativity that come that way because he doesn’t deserve it…”

With respect to Jackson, who perhaps saw the need to defend a player in Bronny James that has been under a strong spotlight for quite sometime, Rivers didn’t appear to be putting LeBron or Bronny James down.

The fact of the matter is that Rivers knows what it’s like to play under the shadow of someone who’s accomplished a lot in the game. Doc Rivers was a longtime NBA player who has already won a championship by the time he went over to the Clippers, and obviously, Austin didn’t find it easy to play under him given the public scrutiny.

Of course, LeBron James is arguably the greatest basketball player in the sport’s history. Given that fact, yes, it could in theory be very difficult for Bronny to play alongside him in the NBA, and that’s where Rivers was coming from given his experience.

On the flip side, it could also be a huge blessing for Bronny to play alongside his father, who would probably be the best teacher and quasi-coach he could ever have. Having someone like him teach him the ins and outs of the NBA could be greatly beneficial as well as he transitions to pro life someday.

As it stands now, James is playing his first year at USC. Yes, James’ stats aren’t eye-popping, but he’s authored an incredible comeback to even be on the court after going into cardiac arrest during a late July basketball workout.

He has plenty of time to grow and develop his game on both ends as he continues his amateur basketball career. James has notably fared well distributing the ball of late, notching five or more assists in four of his last five games.

For now, James and the Trojans move on as they hope to build off an 82-54 win over Oregon State. A pair of road dates in the Bay Area against Cal and Stanford are up next for USC.