David Rivers

David Rivers

Former basketball player David Rivers honored by Olympiakos, May 2009
No. 14, 44, 32
Point guard
Personal information
Date of birth	January 20, 1965 (1965-01-20) (age 46)
Place of birth	Jersey City, New Jersey
Nationality	American
High school	St. Anthony (Jersey City, New Jersey)
Listed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight	170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
College	Notre Dame (1984–1988)
NBA Draft	1988 / Round: 1 / Pick: 25th overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Pro career	1988–2001
Career history
1988–1989	Los Angeles Lakers
1989–1990	Los Angeles Clippers
1990–1991	Tulsa Fast Breakers (CBA)
1991	Memphis Rockers (WBL)
1991–1992	Los Angeles Clippers
1992–1993	La Crosse Catbirds (CBA)
1993–1995	Olympique Antibes (France)
1995–1997	Olympiacos (Greece)
1997–1998	Teamsystem Bologna (Italy)
1998–2000	Tofaş (Turkey)
2000–2001	Olympiacos (Greece)
Career highlights and awards
Euroleague Final Four MVP (1997) Euroleague Champion (1997) Greek Cup Most Valuable Player (1997) Greek League MVP (1997)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

David Lee Rivers (born January 20, 1965 in Jersey City, New Jersey) is a retired American basketball player. An explosive point guard, he reached star status in the Euroleague, mostly playing for Olympiacos Piraeus under coach Dusan Ivkovic.

Rivers grew up in Jersey City and played high school basketball under Bob Hurley at powerhouse St. Anthony High School.^[1]

College career

A third team All-American in 1986-87 and a second team selection in '87-88, he attended the University of Notre Dame.
He was the co-captain of the '87-88 squad. He currently ranks fourth in school history, in scoring with 2,058 points, and second in Notre Dame history in assists (586). He also ranks second all-time in steals (201) and steals average (1.7 spg), second in games started (116), fourth in assists average (5.0 apg) and three-point field goal percentage (.406), ninth in games played (118), 11th all-time in three-point field goals made (67) and 13th in three-point field goals attempted (165). He was selected to the 1987 NCAA Championship All-Regional team. He earned four monograms while a member of the Fighting Irish.

Professional career

Rivers was selected 25th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 1988 NBA Draft, receiving very little playing time in his rookie season. He had two more seasons of no impact with the other Los Angeles team, the Clippers (1989–90 and 1991–92).

He also played successfully in Europe (France, Greece, Italy and Turkey). In Greece, he played for Olympiacos Piraeus winning the Euroleague in 1997. This was the only time the Greek club has won the trophy, winning the triple crown (Greek Cup, Greek Championship and Euroleague).

He showed remarkable form throughout the Euroleague averaging 17 pts, 3.4 assists, 2 steals and 37.9 minutes in 23 games. During the final four in Rome, Rivers almost single-handedly beat both Union Olimpija in the semi final and FC Barcelona in the final, scoring 28 and 26 points respectively. In 1997 Rivers left Olympiacos to join Teamsystem Bologna and played alongside former NBA all-star Dominique Wilkins. He later played for Tofaş Bursa in Turkey where he won two league championships and two cups before re-joining Olympiacos for one season.^[2] Despite his relatively average last season at Olympiacos that ended in his retirement, he is considered a legend for the fans.

Notes

1. ^ Curry, Jack. "Lakers Rookie's Search for Solace", The New York Times, January 15, 1989. Accessed February 27, 2009. "David Rivers has always been ready for the game. One of the finest players to come out of New Jersey in the last 20 years, he overcame obstacles to become an All-State performer at St. Anthony High School."
2. ^ http://listweb.bilkent.edu.tr/basket/2000/Jun/0236.html (Turkish)

External links

• Euroleague.net Profile
• NBA Stats @ Basketballreference.com

Persondata
Name	Rivers, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 20, 1965
Place of birth	Jersey City, New Jersey
Date of death
Place of death