The Los Angeles Clippers’ Austin Rivers will be working out with trainer David Alexander, who also trains LeBron James and Victor Oladipo.
Per Tomer Azarly, Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers will begin working out with David Alexander this summer.
Alexander is a popular trainer among NBA players, having worked out LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and notably, Victor Oladipo.
If you recall the viral Instagram post, Alexander is the trainer that Oladipo texted minutes after his elimination in the playoffs this year.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiKuM7ZBTr1/
You may also remember the before and after pictures Oladipo posted about a year ago. Alexander was also behind the core stability exercise you might remember seeing LeBron do, where he was balancing on his knees on top of a yoga ball.
This is who Austin will be training with. He usually finds a way to improve each season, but you can expect to see monumental improvements in his athleticism, conditioning and such, which will translate to his game. He’ll be training with Alexander for a month in Miami.
So, next year you might see a new and improved Austin. If he can remain healthy for the whole season, we might just see a totally transformed player the same way Oladipo did. Thanks to Alexander, Oladipo is the front running candidate for the Most Improved Player award.
Austin’s future with the Clippers
In the circumstance that we see this kind of improvement we hope from Austin, it’ll be huge for the Clippers. Also, he has a player option coming up for the 2018-19 season, and he might opt-out and shoot for an even bigger deal this season.
Say Austin opts-in, he’ll receive $12.65 million dollars this season. He might feel like he deserves more. The Clippers are already pretty guard heavy, and the front office might feel like he’s not worth the price he’ll be asking.
After the 2018-19 season, the team will likely be more focused on resigning guards like Milos Teodosić and Patrick Beverley, who you can expect to bring more on the floor when he returns from injury. Meanwhile, Austin is still fighting for a starting spot and he’s been with the Clippers for four years.
Either way, the Clippers have a lot to worry about since only four players are under contract for the 2019-20 season. This is the season where team execs will be focused on the future. Will Austin be a part of it?
Time will tell what will happen. Anyone that watches the Clippers consistently knows what Austin can bring to this team when he’s playing at his best. Hopefully, training with Alexander will bring out the strengths in his game.
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Alexander was featured in GQ recently, where he talked about his experience training NBA players.