Former Houston Rockets Guard Faces Ridicule for Controversial Take

Former Houston Rockets guard Austin Rivers had a take for the ages, which subjected him to scrutiny.

Mar 22, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Austin Rivers (25) / Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports

Oftentimes, as NBA players transition into their post-playing days, they enter the sports media space. Some even get opportunities at major networks, such as ESPN, CBS, and even FS1.

Others get opportunities to host (or co-host) podcasts. In fact, these days it's hard not to find someone with a podcast. 

Former Houston Rockets guard Austin Rivers is a rare case of both, as his Off Guard podcast is a part of The Ringer's network, while he has also been a regular on ESPN's NBA Today daily show.

Rivers went viral for a controversial and unpopular take on The Pat McAfee Show, stating that the NBA is a harder sport, arguing that it's easy to find NBA players who can play in the NFL than vice versa.

"I can take 30 players right now in the NBA and throw them in the NFL. You cannot take 30 NFL players and put them in the NBA. All you've got to do is catch the ball and run north or south."

This is objectively a bad take, as we've seen a litany of both current and former NFL players who were stellar on the hardwood.

A few are listed below:

• Julius Peppers 
• Donovan McNabb 
• Darren Fells 
• Randy Moss
• Antonio Gates
• Tony Gonzalez
• Julius Thomas
• Jimmy Graham
• Randy Moss
• Mo Alie-Cox
• DeAndre Hopkins
• Antwaan Randle-El
• Connor Barwin
• Terrell Owens
• Vincent Jackson 
• Martellus Bennett 

Aside from Moss, each of the others also played basketball in college. 

And that doesn't even mention Charlie Ward, who won the Heisman trophy as a college football quarterback at Florida State University, but decided to play basketball at the next level instead of taking his shot at the NFL.

Again, this wasn't a take that was well thought through on Rivers' part. The former Houston Rockets guard received a vicious clap back from JJ Watt, a legendary Houston sports figure, who didn't hold back.

You don’t got a job in either right now, go head and try it… https://t.co/9C5Y4oZyXZ

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) May 7, 2024

Former Rockets forward and NBA legend Charles Barkley said the same thing on Inside the NBA following Wednesday night's Game 2 Eastern Conference Semifinals contest between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers.

"Austin Rivers, you know I love you. We can't play football. No, we can't. Austin Rivers, you're doing a great job, but to say that we've got 30 or 40 NBA players who can go play in the NFL, no we [can't]. Football is a grown man sport. We're soft."

Maybe Rivers doesn't follow the NFL closely enough to know this. Perhaps that was the issue here.

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