Lakers guard Austin Reaves names his greatest player of all time
Austin Reaves' future with the Los Angeles Lakers past this coming season may be in a little doubt since he can opt out of his contract and become a free agent next summer. But at least for now, he's a big part of the Lakers, and he may still have some upward potential.
He's relatively slow and unathletic by NBA standards, and at 6-foot-5 and roughly 200 pounds, the undrafted guard has trouble defending bigger, taller wings when he switches onto them on defense. But he averaged 20.2 points and 5.8 assists this past season and started playing at arguably an All-Star level.
During a recent Asian tour with Rigorer, the sneaker company he's involved with, Reaves was asked who his greatest of all time (G.O.A.T.) is, and he said it's late Lakers great Kobe Bryant.
During his legendary 20-year NBA career, Bryant eventually became massively popular in China. He often gets left out of the top tier of basketball greats by pundits, but at the same time, a number of NBA players, past and present, have said they consider him one of the five greatest players ever. For instance, Shaquille O'Neal, Bryant's former teammate and supposed enemy, put the "Black Mamba" second on his list of the greatest players in NBA history.
Reaves has been nicknamed "Hillbilly Kobe" due to his Middle America roots (he grew up in a very small town in Arkansas). He has talked about being a fan of Bryant in the past, and in fact, his grandmother was also a huge fan of the Hall of Famer.
By adopting Bryant's "Mamba Mentality," perhaps Reaves can continue to elevate his game and become a huge part of a Luka Doncic-centric Lakers team for many years to come while helping it win at least one NBA championship.
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