Antibes-Pau: 30 years of the third title, memories of magician David Rivers

His jersey hangs on the hangers of the Azur Arena, a legendary player with the number 4, who is making his return to the Azur Arena today, on the occasion of this Legends' Night organized by the Sharks. Antibes is thus nicely celebrating the 30th anniversary of the 1995 victory against Elan Béarnais in the final. Describe David Rivers to you? The videos have aged well. His swaying dribble? An ode to joy, elegant and impregnable at the same time, one shot right side up, another upside down, and the defender in the wind. A symphony, an incredible talent in the hands of a wise man. He also scored baskets galore, Rivers, from near and far, distributed passes labeled caviar, of course, he who started in the NBA alongside a certain Magic Johnson with the Lakers, in 1988.

Antibes, theater of dreams

David Rivers, 1.83m tall, settled in Antibes at the end of the summer of 1993, his first steps in Europe. He was 28 years old, coming off an MVP season at La Crosse, in the CBA, the antechamber to the NBA. Tired of the interludes offered him by the big league, the artist wanted to express himself full-time. Antibes embraced him with open arms. He was discovering Europe. "If I was surprised by anything when I arrived? Surprised, that's not the word," laughs David. "For a guy like me who grew up in Jersey City (a tough suburb of New Jersey), if you want to compare, Antibes was more of a dream." Rivers lived then near the Boulevard du Cap d'Antibes, borrowing his white Chrysler every day to go to the Espace Piscine, this large marquee razed in 2012.

"I was lucky enough to be welcomed by President Alain Trichot's club. The team was great. We clicked with Jacques (Monclar). Everything came together. It was all about doing it. We often filled that hall with the blue seats." In Jersey City, Rivers grew up in a family of 15 brothers and sisters. Outside, the streets offered their pitfalls and misery. "Nothing was easy. But we had the love of our parents. I learned patience and the desire to make my own way." In Antibes, the gentle-eyed point guard is on a mission.

Sugar's Shot

At that time, Limoges had just won the Euroleague, Pau and Asvel were eager. Antibes, already champion in 91 with a first magician named Robert Smith, took on the challenge fearlessly. Until this legendary title, and this buzzer beater of the coronation signed Michael Ray ''Sugar'' Richardon during game 4 at the Palais des sports in Pau. " That last shot, I can still see it like it was yesterday, says David. Mike (Richardson) was having a bad day, nothing was going in. But that last ball, he wanted it!" . Pass from Rivers: "Mike gets up, he's wild, his arm above the defender (Fauthoux). Even before it fell, I knew we were champions." In Juan-les-Pins, the old convention center where the final was broadcast on the big screen, trembled on its foundations. In Pau, the Antibes lay on the ground and formed a scrum, drunk with happiness. "Yes, we were happy, so happy," says David, who names his teammates from the victory, the staff, and all the members of the club, one by one, as a second family forever. He kept, at home, the replica of the title trophy, and that of MVP of the season.

"If I could have, I would have spent my entire career in Antibes," he says.

He lives near Bologna

But in the summer of 1995, Antibes woke up with its finances in disarray. Olympiakos rushed to sign the Antibes star. It was at the foot of Mount Olympus that Rivers continued his incredible rise. Champion, and especially winner of the 1997 Euroleague, elected MVP of the Final Four in Rome, where he showed off in the final (26 points) against Djordjevic's Barça. At 32, he was at the top of his game, a god among the Greeks. Then Fortitudo Bologna pulled out all the stops, Rivers won the Coppa Italia, then became a two-time Turkish champion (Bursa), before returning to Piraeus, then ending his career at 38 with a return to Antibes, largely playing a role in saving the ship in Pro B (2003-04). His final dance. It's in Bologna that David Rivers, since 2005, has been living his life as a retired man from the courts, with his family, the father of three children, the youngest of whom, Pearl, has just celebrated her 10th birthday. Always very busy, involved in numerous projects, a very classy ambassador for the Euroleague, David Rivers - 60 years old since January - sails between Italy and the USA. His wish? " To move with his family and come back to live in Antibes." Welcome home, David!! At the Sharks, he will meet this evening a general manager, Vincent Bérard, who was already at the club in 2003, a nod that he "really likes," a link between the present and this glorious past etched forever.