Having recently made headlines for his marvelous breakout performance, Austin Reaves is now set for restricted free agency this off-season. The 24-year-old Los Angeles Lakers guard has been an indispensable contributor to the Lakers’ push for the play-in tournament. Reaves has set tremendous stats for himself on the boards averaging 17.1 points and 5.7 assists per game since the All-Star break.

As of now Reaves has openly expressed his desire to remain with the Lakers, in light of his restricted free agency status meaning that other teams with cap space can offer him more than the Lakers’ limited Early Bird Rights. Reaves, who went undrafted in 2021 after playing college basketball at Oklahoma, is now poised to cash in on his impressive NBA debut. Amidst his impressive performance on-court, Reaves opened up about Kobe Bryant on a recent podcast visit. 

Austin Reaves talks about Kobe Bryant

Ex-baller-turned-coach Evan Turner, in his podcast The Point Forward, asked Austin Reaves about his early days and when he started off as an NBA player. He asked, “At the beginning when you first started the game and your brother is pushing you towards it like what were you thinking? Were you like just get off my back or when did that belief come in that…this could be a real thing?”

He also asked Reaves if his parents contributed to his plans for basketball and whether it was something else, before adding, “At what point did you know who were certain people you looked up to when you watched the game?” 

To this Reaves replied, “At a young age I was, uh, honestly, a Kobe fan. Um, it was, you know, very ironic that I ended up on the Lakers. He was one person that, you know, I had always been, you know, idolizing and really wanted to meet, and you know, unfortunate with, you know, what happened to him and his family, um, and everybody else that was involved.”

After struggling to maintain his voice while speaking about Kobe Bryant, who he said he idolized, Reaves spoke about other players that had left an impact on him. He discussed how he learnt a lot from Joe Ingles who is also one of his favorite players. However, Reaves’ inspiration is not limited to just Kobe Bryant and other veterans.

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Reaves includes his family as his inspiration

Austin Reaves extended the topic of him being inspired by players such as Kobe Bryant to shed some light on how his family inspired him. He talked about his parents, who were both Division 1 athletes. He said, “I looked up to both of my parents, um, we used to joke around the house that, you know, dad couldn’t score because mom, you know…averaged 20-21 when she was at Arkansas State. So we gave him a lot of sh** about that but…he was, you know, top five in assists. So, um, I kind of, you know, tried to figure out how to put those two together and become an overall player.”

Reaves also spoke about his brother and how he played a big role in his development as a basketball player. He said, “My brother is, you know, the icing on the cake. You know, he taught me everything I needed to know about basketball.”

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Reaves has certainly taken that knowledge from family and combined it with his inspiration from Kobe Bryant to a successful player despite going undrafted in 2021. Perhaps is commiseration with Kobe’s family stems from his own parents’ and sibling’s influence on his game!