Lakers' Austin Reaves: LeBron James Laughed Off My 2012 Kobe ...
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When Austin Reaves was 13 years old in 2012, he was a huge Kobe Bryant fan. So much so that he would post memes ripping a 27-year-old LeBron James for not winning an NBA title during his first eight seasons in the league.
Before James led the Miami Heat to an NBA championship during the 2011-12 season, Reaves posted a meme to his Facebook that read: "When I need some peace and quiet I set my phone to LeBron mode, no ring."
The caption featured a photo of Bryant shrugging.
Austin Reaves posting this on Facebook in 2012 and now LeBron is his teammate ???? <a href="https://t.co/wdIZ8zT6Nk">pic.twitter.com/wdIZ8zT6Nk</a>
Reaves is now teammates with James on the Los Angeles Lakers, and the two have a strong bond, though the Oklahoma product quickly came clean about his old Facebook posts ripping the now four-time NBA champion.
"I called Bron over and was like, 'Look, I was s----ing on you back in 2012. I was a Kobe fan,'" Reaves said, according to Melissa Rohlin of Fox Sports. "[James] just laughed it off."
In just two short seasons with the Lakers, Reaves has flourished learning under one of the greatest players of all time, and he has put together a stellar 2022-23 campaign.
During the regular season, the 24-year-old averaged 13.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 64 games while shooting 52.9 percent from the floor and 39.8 percent from deep.
He stepped up in a big way when James was sidelined with an injury during February and March and is now lighting it up alongside James in the postseason. His 14.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists over 10 playoff games have helped the Lakers move to within one win of the Western Conference Finals.
When the postseason is complete, Reaves will become a restricted free agent with a qualifying offer worth $2.2 million, according to Spotrac. However, he's expected to receive a much more lucrative deal in free agency.
The Athletic and Stadium's Shams Charania reported in March that a four-year, $50 million deal for Reaves was "increasingly looking like his marketplace."
"When you think about other teams, they can go higher than that," Charania said. "They can give him a poison-pill offer sheet ... but the Lakers can match that because he is a restricted free agent."
Charania then reported in April that it would be "tough" for the Lakers to match a $60- to $70-million contract offer for Reaves this summer. The most the Purple and Gold can offer him is four years and about $51 million.
"If it gets to that $60M-$70M range for Austin Reaves, that's a tough contract for the Lakers to match… he wants to give the Lakers every opportunity to try to get a deal done"<a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ShamsCharania</a> with his biggest takeaway from convo with Austin Reaves <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RunItBack?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RunItBack</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LakeShow?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LakeShow</a> <a href="https://t.co/x47DboyKGG">pic.twitter.com/x47DboyKGG</a>
The Athletic's Jovan Buha also reported in March that Reaves and the Lakers have mutual interest in a contract extension. The shooting guard later told Charnia that he wanted to spend his entire career with the franchise.
"I wanna be a Laker," Reaves said. "Obviously, they gave me the first opportunity. I was a huge Laker fan growing up, big Kobe [Bryant] fan, so honestly, just to be able to play for the Lakers organization is special, and I wanna be a Laker, so hopefully we can get this done and I can stay there for hopefully my whole career."
Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves sits down with <a href="https://twitter.com/Stadium?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Stadium</a>: "I want to be a Laker, so hopefully we can get this done and I can stay there for hopefully my whole career." On upcoming free agency, a special 2021 training camp moment, surprising his opponents, much more: <a href="https://t.co/sa83nlnatT">pic.twitter.com/sa83nlnatT</a>
Given his passion for suiting up in the Purple and Gold and his stellar 2022-23 season, the Lakers should do everything they can to keep Reaves in L.A. for 2023-24 and beyond.
If the franchise retains Reaves, he'll also get to continue learning from James, which will only continue to benefit his career in the long run.
