All-too-familiar underdog story fuels Austin Reaves’ drive

Austin Reaves —ARENA PLUS PHOTO

There are not many NBA stories in America like that of Austin Reaves’, whose path to NBA popularity could be traced to a sleepy farm city with just about 1,200 inhabitants.

His career arc is much more similar to the success stories of basketball players from overseas. Heck, Reaves could find a bunch like him in the Philippines, a country over 8,000 miles away from his hometown of Newark, Arkansas.

June Mar Fajardo, Scottie Thompson two local superstars from outside Luzon could easily top such a list. In women’s basketball, there’s Jack Danielle Animam, who was discovered in Malolos, Bulacan.

And Reaves believes that what makes players like them tick is “drive and work ethic.”

“My brother always drilled into my brain: ‘You have to work harder than everybody else,’” he recalled in a sit-down with a select group of reporters on Saturday on the sidelines of his introductory press conference with Arena Plus, a streaming and betting platform for which he will now serve as an international brand ambassador.

“The main thing was, every single day, work harder than everybody else. He kept telling me that it was the only way I’m gonna go where I wanted to go. And I believe that is the same as here,” he added.

Reaves was an undrafted prospect the Los Angeles Lakers unearthed in 2021. He made a splash in his rookie year, earning a spot in the club’s rotation that featured the likes of elite guards Russell Westbrook and, later on, D’Angelo Russell.

He went on to represent the United States squad that wound up fourth in the Fiba World Cup in Manila this month last year. Reaves eventually became a crowd darling and finished the campaign as the Americans’ second-finest scorer behind Anthony Edwards, who is now with the Olympic squad in France that is hoping to annex a fifth-straight gold medal.

Reaves said that the mantra his older brother Spencer shared with him repeatedly was the one that kept him hungry those years.

“You can’t take shortcuts, you really cannot miss days in the gym, you cannot not play every possession as hard as you can. You have to do everything perfectly, be perfect because if not, [there’s always] someone more talented than you, more athletic [than you],” he added.

“Just having the ball in my hands a little more, making plays. Just being an all-around player. I don’t like to conventionally do one or two things. I want to play the game the right way and do a little be of everything, and be that hub for our team,” Reaves said of his goals for the new Lakers season. Even after a fresh $56-million early bird maximum contract with the Lakers, his own sneaker line, and growing popularity, Reaves continues to heed Spencer’s sage advice, using it as his compass.

“Since we’ve been on the road, we’ve had opportunities to get in gyms,” he said. “It pays to everyday work on my game and hit the weight room as well.” INQ