Not to be confused with David Foote Rivers David Lee Rivers (born January 20, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. A 5’11”(1.84 m ) tall point guard, he reached star status in the EuroLeague, mainly while playing with Olympiacos, under head coach Dušan Ivković. Rivers played 3 seasons in the NBA, one with the Los Angeles Lakers (1988–89) and two more with the Los Angeles Clippers (1989–90, 1991–92). He played college basketball at the University of Notre Dame. Early years Rivers grew up in Jersey City, and played high school basketball under Bob Hurley, at powerhouse St. Anthony High School. He contributed to the team winning three State Championships and became the school's first player to be invited to the McDonald's All-American Game (1984). Rivers was teammates at St. Anthony with John Valentin. College career Rivers accepted a basketball scholarship from the University of Notre Dame, to play under head coach Digger Phelps. As a freshman, he was named a starter at point guard. As a sophomore, he contributed to the team reaching the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. On August 24, 1986, before the start of the season, he was a passenger in a van being driven by former college teammate Ken Barlow, returning to an apartment they shared after working a summer job with a caterer business, when the vehicle overturned and went into a ditch, after trying to avoid an oncoming car. Barlow had minor cuts, but Rivers suffered a life-threatening 15-inch abdominal cut, that he was able to recover from to play in 32 college games that season. He was named the team's MVP for four consecutive seasons and was a team co-captain for three straight seasons. He received third-team All-American in 1986–87, and second-team honors in '87–88 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 steals per game), second in games started (116), fourth in assists average (5.0 assists per game) 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 playing