Despite a painful ending to their remarkable season, Austin Reaves is nothing but proud of what he attained and accomplished in his career as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.
In his postgame availability following the four-game sweep of the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, Reaves reflected on the effort and amount of work he inserted just to reach his current position after entering the league as a lanky, undrafted swingman out of Oklahoma.
“I never really thought I would be in this position or I probably believed it, but not – there’s probably two, maybe three people thought that I would be in this position and contribute,” he said.
“Honestly I’m just proud of myself. There’s been a lot of times playing basketball where I didn’t think that I would go to the next level. [In] high school, I didn’t have many offers, got the opportunity to go to Wichita State and then move up to a higher and bigger program and then didn’t have much buzz coming out of college. I didn’t know I would be in overseas or in the NBA.
“So to be on this stage and perform, it feels good. I’m proud of myself.”
Reaves made headlines and enchanted fans around the league with his humbling undrafted story and gigantic leap, plugging himself perfectly to the Lakers’ main core using his high IQ, playmaking and crafty scoring tendencies.
In his second year as a pro, Reaves proved himself as one of the best up and coming stars in the league, helping the franchise to complete a dramatic turnaround and reach a Conference Finals finish by averaging 16.9 points, 4.7 assists, 4.6 boards in 15 total postseason games.
As he is set up for a major payday in the offseason as a restricted free agent, Reaves still expresses his appreciation to be back in the game’s grandest stage and compete for that coveted title given the unforgettable experience he had with Los Angeles this 2023 Playoffs.
“I said it to Bron after Game 3 or 4 of the Memphis series. It was just like this is the most fun basketball I’ve had – just a group of guys we’ve had, the level that we’ve played at, and me being a competitor I want to get back to this stage and even further and win the championship,” he said.
“I know that there’s no better feeling than that. I’m just talking to Bron, AD, guys that won championships, there’s no better feeling than that so hopefully one day I can fill that.”
