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Austin Reaves showed a lot of heart during his first training camp with the LA Lakers in 2021. Anthony Davis even tried to intimidate the Oklahoma product, but he played his game and earned the respect of his teammates.
He also earned a contract with the Lakers despite being undrafted.
In an interview with the LA Times in March, Davis recalled playing against Reaves at LeBron James' players-only minicamp before the 2021-22 season.
He thought that he was going to dominate the young guard, but Reaves showed that he could play:
"In my head, it's like, 'Kid, you're trying to guard me? You need to switch. You serious?'" Davis said. "I get the ball, I back him down, and he steals it from me."
In a recent interview with the LA Times, Austin Reaves recalled his minicamp with his future LA Lakers teammates. Reaves knew back then that he could earn a spot with the Lakers, and his confidence never wavered:
"I kinda always felt that I knew myself enough that if I got my foot in the door that I would figure out some way to be impactful to the team," Reaves said.
His confidence was one of the reasons why the Lakers took a chance on him and offered him a standard NBA contract despite being undrafted. Fast forward to this summer, and Reaves signed a four-year, $54 million contract to stay in Hollywood.
Reaves certainly earned a huge deal with his performance from the playoffs. He was the Lakers' third-best player, after LeBron James and Anthony Davis. He will look to continue his success in Hollywood after a stint with Team USA at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
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Austin Reaves no longer an underdog
Austin Reaves had the underdog label in his first two seasons with the LA Lakers. However, that all went out of the window when he signed a massive contract this offseason. He also has an upcoming signature shoe with Rigorer, which means he will have to live up to the new hype.
If that's enough to motivate Reaves to take the next step, a stint with Team USA will do it. He's part of the 12-man roster for the Americans in the upcoming FIBA World Cup in the Philippines.
Reaves has played well and showed that he belonged in the games against Puerto Rico, Slovenia and Spain. He will look to use the experience from playing international basketball in his third year with the LA Lakers next season.
