Austin Reaves on how he sometimes looks at white players: ‘They’re not very good’

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Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves is amid a career year in the NBA and has done enough to be mentioned in the race for the Most Improved Player award, even if he’s facing long odds to win it.

He’s averaging career-highs in points (20.2), rebounds (4.5), assists (5.8) and steals (1.1) per game in the 2024-25 campaign for a Lakers team that owns a top-three seed in the Western Conference currently.

Reaves, who is white, is becoming a rising star in the NBA, but he seems to see himself as a rarity in the league.

“You know, as a white guy in the NBA, I sometimes look at white players and I’m like, ‘They’re not very good,'” Reaves told ESPN. “So, it’s a stigma that I think is real.”

While it’s unclear if Reaves is referring to simply American-born white players, a couple of the top players in the league today are white Europeans, and one of them is Reaves’ teammate. Lakers guard Luka Doncic was born in Slovenia and has been a strong scorer, playmaker and rebounder in the league for a long time now.

Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic is also a white European, and he has a shot to win the fourth MVP award of his NBA career this season. The Serbian is averaging a triple-double with just three contests left on Denver’s regular-season schedule, and he’s on track to become the first player to average a triple-double in a season since guard Russell Westbrook did so.

There arguably aren’t any American-born white players in the NBA who are superstars, but there are still some productive players who fit that bill.

Sacramento Kings big man Domantas Sabonis might be the cream of the crop in that regard, as the Lithuanian-American and Oregon native is leading the league in rebounds per game this season while carrying a good chunk of the scoring load for his squad. He’s a three-time All-Star.

Additionally, Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro was named an All-Star for the first time in his career this season. Oklahoma City Thunder big man Chet Holmgren is an excellent defensive player to boot, and Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard is the betting favorite win the Sixth Man of the Year award.

While it seems true that there aren’t as many great white players in the NBA as there are standout Black players, Reaves’ claim may be a little hyperbolic overall.