Austin Reaves' 2023 has been a year of many successes thus far. Not only did he emerge as one of the Los Angeles Lakers' most important players, he also played well enough to warrant a four-year, $56 million contract from them in free agency. That is not too shabby for a player that went undrafted in 2021. But it seemed like Reaves was ready to take an even bigger step towards superstardom after rumors spread that the 25-year old guard was dating multiple-time Grammy award winning pop star Taylor Swift.

However, that piece of “information” may be nothing but the product of one creative person's imagination, as the beloved Lakers guard, in an appearance on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson's “All The Smoke” podcast, shut down all rumors of him dating the iconic performer. In fact, Reaves admits that he has never even met Swift.

“I have never met her, never talked to her. All bulls**t… I ain’t never talked to her… They said we were in a bar in Arkansas,” Reaves said, per Silver Screen and Roll. “[All of those rumors are] not true.”

This certainly is bad news for those who ship Lakers guard Austin Reaves with the iconic pop star. After all, there's certainly visual chemistry between the two, even if the doctored image showing the two together in a bar in Arkansas wasn't particularly convincing.

Moreover, Reaves already has a longtime girlfriend in Jenna Barber, a woman the 25-year old guard met back when they were in Arkansas. Barber was seen posting photos of her supporting her boyfriend during the Lakers' playoff run last season. In another social media post, Barber also referred to Reaves as her “person”, further cementing that the two are lovers.

Nevertheless, fans of Taylor Swift certainly won't be too frustrated about this “development”. Swift is also in the middle of the Eras Tour, so she may not have that much time for romantic pursuits. In fact, later on at 6:30 p.m., Swift will be performing in front of what should be a raucous crowd at Lumen Field in Seattle.

It certainly seems like both Reaves and Swift are happy where they currently are in their lives. So with the Lakers guard clearing the air, perhaps it's best for everyone to leave this topic alone — for good.