A third team All-American in 1986–87, and a second team selection in '87–88, Rivers attended the University of Notre Dame. He was the co-captain of the '87–88 squad. He currently ranks fourth in school history, in scoring with 2,058 points, and second in Notre Dame history in assists. He also ranks second all-time in steals, and steals average, second in games started, fourth in assists average and three-point field goal percentage, ninth in games played, 11th all-time in three-point field goals made, and 13th in three-point field goals attempted. He was selected to the 1987 NCAA Championship All-Regional team. He earned four monograms while a member of the Fighting Irish.
Professional playing career
NBA
Rivers was selected 25th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 1988 NBA draft and as a rookie he played in 47 games in the regular season, averaging 2.9 points and 2.3 assists per game, and 6 more in the playoffs averaging 2.5 points and 1 assist per game. Rivers was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1989 Expansion Draft, but was waived before playing a game. He had two more seasons with the other Los Angeles team, the Clippers. In 1989–90 he played in 53 games, averaging 4.2 points and 3 assists per game. He appeared in 15 more games in the 1991–92 season for the Clippers.
Europe
He played successfully in Europe. In Greece, he played for European powerhouse Olympiacos, winning the EuroLeague in 1997. That same season, Olympiacos also won the Triple Crown, by winning the Greek Cup, Greek League Championship and EuroLeague, all in the same season. During that 1996–97 season, Rivers averaged 17.2 points, 3.4 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.0 steals in 37.9 minutes per game, in 23 games played in the EuroLeague. Most importantly, he was named EuroLeague Final Four MVP after being instrumental in Olympiacos triumph, averaging 27 points per game in the two Final Four games in Rome. He is remembered as a legend by Olympiacos fans and he is widely considered as one of the greatest players in Olympiacos history. In the 1997 off-season, Rivers left Olympiacos to join Italian League club Teamsystem Bologna, and played alongside former NBA all-starDominique Wilkins. He later played for Tofaş of the Turkish League, where he won two Turkish League championships and two Turkish Cups, before re-joining Olympiacos for one season.
