During a podcast appearance, former Los Angeles Lakers assistant Phil Handy shared a story about Lakers guard Austin Reaves and how he knew Reaves would be special early on.
As part of the story, Handy revealed that he had to tell Reaves to “shoot the f—— ball” during an NBA Summer League game during their first time meeting.
“I saw that from day one, day one,” Handy said of Reaves. “Look, I tell this story, the first time I met Austin, he was playing for our Summer League team. He went undrafted. He went undrafted. He was playing for our Summer League team, and I had never met him, but I saw clips of him play in college. So, people think this is just now. Man, if you go back and you watch a couple of his games at Oklahoma, he got some s— with him. Back then, I was like, ‘Hold up, man.’ Just the chip on his shoulder. And so I saw it.
“I went to the Summer League game, and he wasn’t shooting the ball. And it was crazy — you ask Austin today. It was halftime. I walked over, said, ‘Hey, man, come here.’ Never met him. I said, ‘You wanna make this team? You need to shoot the f—— ball. Like bro, you out here to shoot the ball, man. You wanna make this team.’ So, in the second half, he played well, but when Summer League was over and I had a chance to get in the gym with him, right away, I saw it. And it wasn’t so much his skill or his shot-making. It was just his inner belief. That kid had a superb chip on his shoulder, man.”
Reaves went undrafted in 2021, declining a chance to be selected by the Detroit Pistons before joining the Lakers on a two-way contract. He was then switched to a standard deal before the start of his rookie season.
As a rookie, Reaves showed a lot of promise, averaging 7.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in 61 appearances.
The following season, he showed that his rookie campaign was no fluke, as he averaged 13.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. He also played an important role during L.A.’s playoff run to the Western Conference Finals.
In his third season, he added to his scoring average and wound up going for 15.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. He once again got a taste of playoff action, but the Lakers didn’t last long, as they were eliminated in the first round last season.
This season, his fourth in the league, Reaves has played the best basketball of his NBA career. He just wrapped up a regular season in which he averaged 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game, and he was a steadying presence for a Lakers team that experienced some roster changes during the season.
Now, he’ll look to keep things rolling in the playoffs, as the Lakers are set to face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. With a number of teams in the championship conversation this season, L.A. is going to need all hands on deck, and Reaves will have to keep making an impact in order for the Purple and Gold to have a shot at another banner.
The Lakers and Timberwolves will get their series started on Saturday with Game 1 in Los Angeles.
