Top Five Things You Did Not Know About LA Lakers Starlet Austin Reaves
Austin Reaves was raised in the 1,200-person hamlet of Newark, Arkansas. For the 23-year-old, basketball is a family affair because both of his parents were collegiate basketball players at Arkansas State and because his brother is currently a professional player in Germany. He participated in collegiate basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners and the Wichita State Shockers. Reaves won three state championships at Cedar Ridge High School, but he really fell in love with baseball first.
Austin Reaves switched to the orange ball in the seventh grade. Reaves signed a two-way deal with the Los Angeles Lakers on August 3, 2021, after going undrafted in the NBA draft of 2021. Reaves made his NBA debut on October 22 against the Phoenix Suns, scoring eight points off the bench in a 115-105 defeat.
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Here are five facts about Austin Reaves:
Baseball was his first sport
“It started with baseball,” Austin Reaves said. “Baseball was really my first sport, and that’s what everybody thought I was going to do. But I played too much, kinda got burnt out on it. I played basketball in fourth, fifth and sixth grade because it was what my friends did.”
Forego remaining college basketball for NBA draft but went undrafted
Austin Reaves announced his intent to skip his remaining collegiate eligibility and enter the 2021 NBA draught. After a successful season in which he averaged 18.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists for Oklahoma, a team that fell in the NCAA tournament round of 32, Reaves, the No. 40 prospect in the ESPN 100 NBA draft rankings, was selected first-team All-Conference in the Big 12.
To the surprise of nearly no one OU senior Austin Reaves declares for NBA Draft. Expected to go in second round. @news9 #sooners
— Dean Blevins (@DeanBlevins) March 31, 2021
Reaves joined the Los Angeles Lakers on a two-way deal after going undrafted in the 2021 NBA draft.
Sat out for a year during college career
Prior to leaving Wichita State in 2016 and joining the Oklahoma Sooners for good, Austin Reaves began his collegiate basketball career there. Due to the transfer portal not being established in 2018, he had to wait a year before being eligible to play.
Parents played college basketball for Arkansas state
Nicole Wilkett and Brian Reaves are the parents of Reaves. His parents were both collegiate basketball players for Arkansas State. His father is tied for third in school history with 384 career assists, while his mother averaged 21.3 points per game and was named to the all-conference team as a senior.
Austin Reaves grew up in Newark, Arkansas and both of his parents were all-time basketball greats at Arkansas State, tonight's opponent for Wichita State.https://t.co/qxBGGqspFu
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) December 19, 2017
Finished top 10 in 2023 All-Star voting
The NBA published the preliminary results of the All-Star voting in early January, with a number of Lakers dispersed around the top 10 in both frontcourt and backcourt. The Lakers had other people in the top 10 in addition to the top vote-getters.
Lakers’ LeBron James and Nets’ Kevin Durant lead the NBA’s first 2022-23 All-Star fan voting returns: pic.twitter.com/ObI4WQjnuH
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 5, 2023
The fact that Austin Reaves is among the top 10 is unquestionably the most significant finding from the vote announcement, though. He received the ninth-most votes among guards for the western conference in the first and second returns.
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