Austin Reaves has emerged as one of the best players on the Los Angeles Lakers and plays a big role in their title hopes.
In his 22nd NBA season, LeBron James has the best supporting cast since his days with the Miami Heat. At 40 years old, he is unable to lead a team to the Finals all by himself like he has in years past, so the Los Angeles Lakers have built him an elite supporting cast.
While the trade that landed them Luka Doncic can be chalked up to dumb luck or incompetence by the Dallas Mavericks, the emergence of Austin Reaves as the best third option in the league can’t be overlooked.
In recent years, the Lakers have drafted Josh Hart, Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell, Lonzo Ball, and Brandon Ingram, although Reaves, who was undrafted in 2021, is one of Los Angeles’ best developmental stories in recent years.
One former Lakers’ assistant coach knew what Reaves was capable of long before anyone else ever did.
Heading into Reaves’ rookie season in 2021-22, the Lakers were reeling. They had won the Finals in 2020 and seemed to have upgraded their roster, but lost in the first round to the Phoenix Suns in 2021. Heading into Reaves’ first season, the Lakers had a loaded roster.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis were joined by Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, and Rajon Rondo.
Rondo and Howard were critical during the 2020 Finals run but played elsewhere in 2020-21 before returning to LA to end their careers, but they–and everyone else–got outplayed by a no-name guard.
“That year his first year we had Russ, Carmelo, we had Trevor Ariza, we had all these veterans on our team, we had our minicamp, Austin Reaves was the best player in the gym,” reflected former assistant coach Phil Handy on All The Smoke.
Westbrook, Anthony, and Howard either are Hall of Famers or certainly will be when they retire.
“He was the best player in the gym, he started out as a two-way. When that camp was over, the Lakers signed him.”
That summer, Reaves averaged only nine points and 2.4 assists in the summer league. His rookie season wasn’t much better, although the potential was clear.
Handy was an assistant coach for the Lakers from 2019-24, linking up with James after serving as an assistant on the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is known for his player development and made six Finals in a row as an assistant.
“I had never met him but I saw clips of him playing in college, people think this is just now, if you go back and watch his games at Oklahoma, he got some ___ back then I was like, ‘hold up, this the chip on his shoulder,’” continued Handy.
“I saw it, I saw a summer league game and he wasn’t shooting the ball. It was half-time I walked over and said ‘come here, you want to make this team, shoot the ____ing ball man’.Second half he played well but when summer league was over and I had the chance to get in the gym with him, right away, I saw it. It wasn’t so much his skill or shotmaking, it was just his inner belief.”
In college, Reaves was never the best player. During two seasons with the Wichita State Shockers, he had to back up Landry Shamet. He transferred to Oklahoma and made an All-Big 12 team in his final season, not becoming the best player until his senior year.
Reaves, as an undrafted player, had to fight for just a roster spot, and now he’s one of the best players on a legitimate NBA title favorite, and he got his chance just because he spent a summer outworking some NBA legends.
