On Monday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers' nine-game winning streak came to an end with a close road loss at the hands of the Detroit Pistons. While Los Angeles was unable to get over the finish line, Austin Reaves did come up clutch with a late bucket in the fourth quarter as part of his 24 points on the evening.
Recently, Lakers star LeBron James got 100% real on when he knew that Reaves was a special talent.
“After we signed him, I went back and watched a lot of his Wichita State highlights and games and then a lot of his Oklahoma highlights and games as well,” said James, per the Mind The Game podcast with co-host Steve Nash. “The first thing I noticed, it’s kind of funny. We always talk about this. He didn’t play like a white boy. It was very different. His wiggle was very different. I mean, I grew up in Northeast Ohio, so I know white guys playing like white guys and white guys playing like the brothers.”
James also spoke on why Reaves didn't go first round in the NBA Draft.
“I know why. You know how that s*** is. Because they look at him, they judge a book by its cover. I saw the talent and thought, ‘That guy is not an undrafted player. There’s no way that guy goes undrafted,'” said James.
Reaves indeed technically went undrafted, although that was a choice on his part, as he and his agents told teams in the second round not to select him so that he could sign with the Lakers as an undrafted free agent.
However, he still clearly has established himself as a first-round talent at the NBA level, and likely would have made the All-Star team this year had an injury not sidelined him at an inopportune time.
