A father-son team of YouTubers from Florida stumbled upon the career legacy of former NBA player David Rivers while going through an abandoned storage unit in Seminole County. The Klines, known on social media for their storage treasure hunts, unearthed championship rings, game-worn Lakers jerseys, All-Star rings, and also personal fan mail belonging to the basketball veteran, Fox 35 Orlando reported.
What Was Found
Thomas and Dan Kline purchased the storage unit without knowing its contents. While sorting through the items, they discovered sports memorabilia. They found a fan letter addressed to David Rivers, confirming the identity of the unit’s original owner.
Rivers played for the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers in the late 1980s before becoming a EuroLeague legend. Rivers played for the Lakers during the 1988–89 season. He appeared in 47 regular-season games, averaging 2.9 points and 2.3 assists per game, and participated in 6 playoff games, averaging 2.5 points and 1 assist per game. The Lakers reached the NBA Finals that year but lost to the Detroit Pistons.
For the 1989–90 season he joined the Clippers as a free agent, after being released by the Minnesota Timberwolves–he was with the Timberwolves during the 1989 NBA expansion draft, but was released before the start of the regular season. With the Clippers he played in 53 games that season, 11 of them as a starter, averaging 4.2 points and 3 assists per game. He briefly returned to the Clippers during the 1991–92 season, playing 15 games before being released again .
From 1993 to 1995, Rivers, a former college basketball star for Notre Dame where he was MVP for four seasons, played in the in EuroLeague for Olympique Antibes in the French League, winning the French Championship in 1995. Rivers achieved legendary status in Europe, winning titles in France, Greece, and Turkey, including a EuroLeague Championship in 1997. He was also inducted into the Olympique Antibes Hall of Fame.
He had no idea his career belongings had been lost.
The Klines could have kept the Rivers’ items but chose to use their platform to do the right thing. Collaborating with another YouTuber, they created a video to connect with Rivers. Rivers saw the video and learned of the discovery.
Rivers explained that his items had been placed in the unit by a relative who had since passed away, resulting in unpaid storage fees and the unit’s auction. He praised the Klines for prioritizing integrity over profit. “They could have made an awful lot of money, but they chose kindness,” Rivers told Fox 35 Orlando.