The Nuggets making the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history was cause for celebration, except if you’re Austin Rivers.
Rivers was a reliable bench player for Denver over the past two seasons, where he averaged six points per game in 67 games during the regular season.
Last July, Rivers signed a deal with Minnesota which saw him miss out on the Nuggets’ Finals berth this season and he is not happy about it at all.
“It bothers me that they are in the Finals, yes,” Rivers said on the Off Guard with Austin Rivers podcast. “It bothers me that I didn’t get to play with Jamal. It bothers me that like everyone now is like ‘Oh, they have this complete roster.’ No they fu*king don’t. They have seven guys that they play.
“They don’t even play a full roster. They’re not even playing a full team right now. … I’m bitter. I’m salty. I am all of that in between. I don’t like … the only reason that I’m happy is because I’m good friends with Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr., and I’m happy that they are in the Finals.
“I left the party then all the pretty girls showed up and it became a night to remember and I wasn’t at the party”.
To make matters worse, the Timberwolves played the Nuggets in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs series which Denver won comfortably 4-1.
The veteran guard said it wasn’t an easy task taking part in that series.
“And it was tough to play them in the first round,” Rivers continued. “Not only was it tough, I went from playing 20 minutes a game on the Denver Nuggets to not playing a minute in the first couple of games for the Timberwolves and then losing in the first round. It’s been a bumpy ride in the last two months. And I’ve had humble pie before, but my God. … But yeah, am I genuinely like really actually mad? No, I’m happy for the guys. But is there a part of me that’s salty about this situation? That I’m looking on the TV screen and seeing these guys hoist trophies? I’m like ‘bro, no.’”
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