“Go win the ball game, AR! Go win the ball game!” LeBron James yells into Austin Reaves’ ear while speaking to a reporter for a walk-off interview. It comes just moments after the Lakers’ scintillating victory against the Clippers on their shared home turf in Los Angeles, marking their first victory against their fellow Crypto.com Arena tenants in a dozen tries. Of course, Reaves did not secure the victory on his own. It was a true team effort, with James himself setting the record for most ever points (35) by a player in his 21st season.
But James emphasizes the conclusion that everyone in the organization (and many more in the NBA in general) has already come to: Reaves is — as he later roared sinking a half-court buzzer-beater against the Golden State Warriors during last year’s playoffs – it.
To say Reaves got off to a rough start this season is admittedly an understatement. Yes, the 6-foot-4, 197-pound shooting guard still had an impact in some ways during the first few Lakers outings, but his trademark enthusiasm, the propulsive drive to the basket that resulted in timely buckets, the improbable heaves of distance that swung through the basket was missing. . Perhaps, it was speculated, this was a result of adjusting to his new place in the spotlight, or a side effect of essentially having no offseason (due to starring for Team USA at the Fiba World Cup in the summer) , or maybe even just an adjustment period for the new Laker lineup.
Whatever the cause, the drop in quality had both the Internet proletariat and the roundtable professionals chatting, and at a deafening volume. One of the unfortunate side effects of commanding people’s attention, it turns out, is that they’re constantly looking for evidence that you don’t deserve it. Reaves is a floppy-haired, uncultured white boy from a small town in rural Arkansas; he’d be just as at home selling orange puffer jackets at Bass Pro Shops as he would be in an NBA uniform. What were the chances that he would get the real dealthat his improbable ascent to becoming the Lakers’ third-best player in their run as the No. 10 seed in last year’s conference finals wasn’t a fluke?
To Reaves’ credit, he apparently hasn’t let the noise from his slow start worry him. In the middle of the shootout, he told a reporter after the game, “You want to make shots. But no athlete has ever played perfectly their entire career. So these things happen, and you just have to figure out a way to get through it.
This attitude applies to the even-tempered Reaves, who, while hyper-competitive on the court, never really seems to get too high or too low. He sheepishly laughed off persistent, outlandish rumors this summer that, before Travis Kelce, He used to be Taylor Swift’s lover (a rumor, as it turns out, that was started as a joke by a Clippers employee). His ferocity in the game is belied by his awe-inspiring attitude outside the lines: consistently reluctant to accept much praise, steadfast in wearing a technical fleece in his tunnel ensembles in lieu of high fashion, reluctant to even acknowledge the growing profile he has collected over the past year.
In the Lakers’ locker room before their home opener against the Phoenix Suns, I held up my phone to show Reaves what the Lakers had posted to their Instagram before the game: a photo from media day with the presumed “Big Three” of the club. : LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Reaves. I asked him what a teenage Austin, who grew up on the outskirts of Newark, Arkansas (population 1,100), would think if he saw this image, and was told that this would be his life one day. “I would have looked at you as if you had six faces,” he deadpanned.
His decidedly unpretentious nature has undoubtedly contributed to people’s hesitation to acknowledge his star rise. But the brightest basketball minds around him always saw something special in him. I asked Frank Vogel, the current head coach of the Phoenix Suns, who coached Reaves with the Lakers in his rookie season, if he saw early signs that Austin had an It factor. “I did,” Vogel said. “We thought very highly of him.” He recalled Lakers scouting department head Jesse Buss showing him film of Reaves’ college days at Wichita State and the University of Oklahoma: “It was remarkable how well he played.” I remember thinking he was a smaller one, a poor man’s Luka (Dončić), with the way he played pick-and-roll – that’s how impressive it was to me.
Reaves brushes off the praise he receives, insisting that his parents and brother raised him to “play the game the right way,” and that he is focused on improving his game further. “I want to compete, grow and get better every year, just see how good I can be. That’s really my main thing. You can never be perfect at this, and that just keeps you going.” He has tried, he says, to keep his focus on that task, rather than on his increasing success and, frankly, surreal life path thus far. “I stay very present,” he said. “One of these days I’ll sit down and think more (about my career) and probably appreciate it – not that I don’t appreciate it now, but I appreciate it a lot more, and in a different aspect.”
Due in part to the Lakers’ dire bench situation in Reaves’ rookie year, he saw playing time fairly quickly in Los Angeles, though it took a while for him to become a regular rotation player, and even longer for him to be elevated to the starting lineup. role that he won well into last season. As Reaves’ profile began to rise, he became a fan favorite, especially as his stellar play in the second half of the year helped the Lakers achieve a playoff bid. By the end of the season, enthusiasm reached such a fever pitch that he regularly shouted “MVP!” chants during his trips to the free throw line.
Of course, there is also the other side of the coin: the more people behind you, the more people do the opposite. But the sometimes uncomfortably well-adjusted Reaves doesn’t mind. I asked him if he ever feels misunderstood, ever unsettled by the opinions of strangers: “I care about what I care about, and that’s obviously basketball, my family,” he said. “But all the outside noise is like… if you support me, great. If you don’t, I don’t really care. It’s part of it and I think that’s the great thing about sport: you are a fan of who you are a fan of.’ He pauses. “And that’s about it. I’m a pretty simple person.”
Reaves was recently moved to a sixth-man role in the Lakers’ rotation, said shift head coach Darvin Ham. “Not a relegation, but a reshuffle”, compared to Manu Ginóbili’s super-sub position in the San Antonio Spurs’ second unit. To his credit, Reaves has adapted well. He has maintained his minutes and continued to be a major influence for the club; his points, rebounds and assists per game averages are all up from last season. “Basketball is basketball to me,” he told a reporter after the Lakers’ victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. “Start, get off the couch and go play pickup at home. I try to play the same way regardless of the situation.”
I asked Orlando Magic’s Paolo Banchero, who played alongside Reaves at this summer’s World Cup, what he thinks is unique about him. “His fearlessness,” last year’s No. 1 overall draft pick said without hesitation. “Actually, he’s not afraid of a single moment.” Banchero had a generally glowing review of his Team USA teammate (“great guy, super humble”), and was decisive in his views on where Reaves’ career can go from here. “I think he’s on his way to being a star,” Banchero said. “He is a man who is suitable for every game, he will appear in the big moments. I’m sure he’ll hit a lot of big shots for the Lakers. I think he’s going to have a great career.”
However, it is not just Banchero who has confidence in Reaves. LeBron James, the Lakers’ elder statesman himself, has expressed his confidence in him. In their Los Angeles locker room, James tells Reaves, “You’re a star, man.” Reaves grins at him and shakes his head. “Ha. Fake it until you make it.” But fakes don’t fool James, and the evidence is mounting: Reaves isn’t one.