Los Angeles Lakers ace Austin Reaves impressed every fan, expert, and teammate with his meteoric rise last season. The Oklahoma Sooners kid joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 2021. But his story has been somewhat inspirational. Nobody drafted him in 2021. Later, he signed with the 17-time champions that same year. In his debut season with the Lakers, he mostly came off the bench every game that edition. Gradually, he found his way to the starting lineup. Later, he didn’t take much time to become a fan favorite.
Austin Reaves can be a future leader of the Lakers. He said several times how big a Lakers fan he has been since childhood. AR was a big Kobe Bryant fan when he was growing up. Hence, it has been a dream come true opportunity for him to wear the iconic purple and gold jersey. Austin Reaves wants to play for the iconic franchise all his career. But recently, a piece of new information came to light that the Oklahoma Sooners kid has been a victim of discrimination.
Austin Reaves Agrees With D’Lo About Disrespect Due To Skin Color
It is genuinely tough for a white kid to dominate in the NBA. Recently, AR’s teammate, D’Angelo Russell, mentioned that people in the league discredit Austin Reaves due to his skin color. Moreover, D’Lo, who faced a lot of scrutiny due to his poor performance in the last playoffs, appeared in the Pat Bev podcast recently. There he mentioned that Austin Reaves has a killer attitude on the basketball court. But many conservative basketball fans and experts find it weird to see AR dominating the game among so many skillful players of color.
"Killer. Killer. Oh my god [Austin Reaves] is a killer… He kind of always felt like 'yeah, I can do that. I'm built like that.'… They probably discredit him because of his skin color, but he got game."
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 3, 2023
—D'Angelo Russell
(via @PatBevPod) pic.twitter.com/cgoMo5KuDl
Factual https://t.co/tiNBuH6gSS
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) August 5, 2023
On that podcast, D’Lo Russell mentioned, “A lot of black dudes now know a white boy that can hang. Reaves can get to it at any park back home and hold it down.” In regards to the comments of D’Angelo Russell on the Pat Bev show, Austin Reaves mentioned that disrespect because of color is very real. Recently, AR told NBC Sports that he played a year of AAU, and then he got on the court. Later, people claimed that they got the white boy. However, AR, after a few possessions, gave them hell.
AR Can Go A Long Way With His High Basketball IQ
Back in the time, Austin Reaves revealed that he likes proving these people wrong. He is more than what meets the eye. That’s what keeps proving. On top of that, Reaves knows how good he is, and hence, he just likes to let his game do all the talking. Later, Patrick Beverley, former AR’s teammate, mentioned that D’Lo’s assessment of Reaves is actually factual. It was apparent that the Oklahoma Sooners kid has got high basketball IQ.
Even LeBron James agreed to that point. AR went through a roller coaster ride as not only he got a chance in the starting lineup, but also he became an absolute fan favorite. Only in his second season AR became the third most important player in the team. It all comes down to the incredible consistency of the 2021 undrafted player. AR showed consistency in the playoffs as he did in the regular season.