LeBron James on discovering Austin Reaves' unique talent and skills
LeBron James was one of the first to discover that Austin Reaves was uniquely gifted when Reaves came to the Lakers as an undrafted rookie.
Austin Reaves of the Los Angeles Lakers is one of the few true Horatio Alger-like stories in the NBA. He grew up in Newark, Ark. , a small town with a population of just over 1,000, and after playing at Wichita State University and the University of Oklahoma, he came to the Lakers as an undrafted free agent in 2021.
In a relatively short amount of time, he went from being on a two-way contract to being a key part of the Lakers' run to the 2023 Western Conference finals. Since then, he has elevated his game each season, and he's now an undisputed star guard. Teammate LeBron James invited Reaves to be a guest on his "Mind the Game" podcast recently, and he talked about discovering that Reaves was a unique talent.
His first impression was that the 6-foot-5 guard didn't fit the presumed stereotype of white basketball players. “His wiggle was very different,” James said. “I mean, I grew up in Northeast Ohio, so I know, white guys playing like white guys and white guys playing like, the brothers.
And what I could see in his game is that he had a lot of wiggle to his game and that was one of the one things that, quite frankly we were missing, we didn't have. I thought that his game would translate to us. His ability to crack the seams and his ability to get into the paint and him playing, even though their team wasn’t as good at Oklahoma, his game, it showed a pro, and that's what I saw early on.