Austin Reaves has never sounded like a guy who borrowed confidence from anybody else. That came through loud and clear in his recent conversation with Dan Patrick at the American Century Championship, where the Lakers guard opened up about the doubts he’s heard, the star power he walked into, and the moment the NBA felt just a little too big.
Reaves said his belief in himself started long before the league ever came calling.
“I’ve always had a delusional confidence in myself. It goes back to high school and you know, just believing in what I can do on a basketball court,” Reaves said.
That confidence had to survive plenty of outside noise. As an undrafted player, Reaves said he was often reduced to lazy assumptions in scouting circles and media conversations, especially around his race and athleticism.
“[That] I’m white, [so] I’m unathletic. I could walk down the street, and nobody’s going to be, I mean, I’ve had people ask me if I played tennis or baseball before basketball. So, it’s just, you know, things like that.”
He said he never doubted he belonged in the NBA. The question, in his mind, was whether he’d ever get the chance.
“But I never felt like I was going to get the opportunity to play in the NBA. I always felt like I was capable of it, but I didn’t know if the opportunity would present itself. Once it did, you know, I kind of got my foot in the door and then, you know, took advantage of it,” said Reaves confidently.
Reaves also described what it felt like to be dropped into a Lakers environment packed with established names. He said he was on a group chat that included six future Hall of Famers, and the experience hit him fast.
“I’m pretty sure I got it pretty quickly. Yeah, I think so. He has a mini camp every year before our training camp, and when we were down there, I think there was a group message sent out, and everybody was sending their names in it, and I saw his name.”
Then came the part that really made the moment land.
“Well, and the thing is, I was on a, you know, that my rookie year, I was on a team of six Hall of Famers. It was like I would see a message, it’d be like Russell Westbrook, Melo, Dwight Howard, like it was just name after name after name. I’m like, ‘Holy s-, why am I here?'”
Reaves also recalled the kind of early NBA moment that sticks with a player. In his case, it came in practice against LeBron James, who was talking trash after Reaves got matched up on him three straight possessions.
“I think it was in practice, Bron, for some reason I got matched up on him three straight possessions, and I played probably the best defense of my life, and he scored every possession. And he was talking s-, so uh I couldn’t say anything, but that was kind of my ‘oh wow like do I really belong here?’ moment,” Reaves recalled.
The conversation comes as Reaves’ role has grown into something much bigger than the undrafted label he once carried. He played 51 games in the 2025-26 regular season and averaged 23.3 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 49.0% from the field and 36.0% from behind the three-point line.
With LeBron James no longer on the Lakers, Reaves now stands as the clear No. 2 scoring option. He’ll be a central part of what comes next, and the challenge now is turning that production into the kind of résumé that matches the responsibility.
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