Austin Rivers on Clippers hate: 'People feel like our team complains a lot'

It is well known that the Los Angeles Clippers are disliked throughout the league.

From complaining to referees, to flopping, to Lob City, there a slew of reasons why people don't like them. Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Doc Rivers just seem to rub a lot of people the wrong way. Heck, Bleacher Report surveyed the league and wrote about the amount of disdain for the Clippers around the NBA just last month.

The most interesting part of the story is whether the Clippers understand why they're so disliked, and if they even care. Paul didn't seem to. Neither did Rivers.

But the youngest Rivers seems to care. Austin Rivers -- another irritating personality on the team's roster -- recently partook in an interview on the Jim Rome Show, where he was asked why his team upsets so many people.

At first, Rivers acted as if he didn't know why, but that the criticism has only gotten worse since he arrived on the team last season:

Then, after a little more prodding, the 23-year-old reserve guard opened up about why he truly feels opposing teams, players and fans dislike him and his teammates:

The level of self-awareness Rivers displays here hasn't always translated on the court, but it's encouraging to see. He's right. Most people who "hate" the Clippers do because the team is so hostile toward referees and often acts as if any call that goes against them couldn't possibly be correct.

What's more, Rivers has another strong point. Nothing will turn away fans quicker than a team prematurely celebrating and carrying themselves as champions before they've won anything. The LeBron James-era Miami Heat were the most notable team to do that, but they quickly won back-to-back championships in their second and third years together, effectively quieting most of the haters.

The Clippers, of course, have not done that. This is already Year 5 of the Chris Paul era, and while three Western Conference semifinals appearances is nothing to scoff at -- as well as the fact that the Clippers have progressively won more games in the second round each season, for what it's worth -- it's not a championship, or even a Finals or Western Conference Finals berth.

Rivers mentioning the Golden State Warriors is also interesting, as the Warriors were brash and confident before they won the championship last season, yet caught nowhere near the same amount of flak as the Clippers.

Perhaps that's simply because of Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr, who are as beloved as anybody in the NBA. Or maybe it's because there was less hype around the Dubs -- even last season, no one really had them as a legit title contender, let alone winning it all. The Clips, meanwhile, were a popular pick.

Whatever the reason, the Warriors can now act as cocky as they want -- they're the reigning champs, and unless the San Antonio Spurs can stop them, they're probably going back to back. The Clippers don't have that luxury yet.

Until they rein in their on-court attitude or start advancing deeper in the postseason -- neither of which seems likely this season -- the Clippers will continue to be the most polarizing team in basketball.

(h/t Uproxx)

Jovan Buha covers the NBA for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter at @jovanbuha.