Manila, Philippines — When Austin Reaves was in the Philippines almost exactly year ago for the FIBA World Cup, his agent Aaron Reilly, along with his partner Reggie Berry, got to work by searching for business opportunities for their client.
In a Laker-loving country that treats basketball like a religion, it didn’t take long for Riley and Berry to close a deal with prominent local sports betting app Arena Plus, which makes the Lakers guard their new brand ambassador.
“After that event in Manila, my partners and I tried to figure out what’s next?” Reilly, the CEO of AMR Agency, said in a press conference held at Shangri-La Hotel, Manila. “What do we want to do with our guy? And with Austin, it was simple: Make him the adopted son of the Philippines. That was the number one thing we talked about, seriously.”
Reaves returned to Manila exactly one year after one of the biggest moments of his young career. The 26-year-old may have fallen short of achieving a gold medal with Team USA last August at the FIBA World Cup, but he has no regrets about the time he spent in Manila.
“The opportunity to play for the USA team gave me a boost of confidence and then obviously coming over here and playing well,” Reaves said at the press conference. “Obviously, we fell short at what we wanted to do which was win gold but for me to just have that experience and have the opportunity to play for the USA team gave me a boost of confidence and just a higher belief in myself to continue to take my game to another level and put in the work year-round in the summers.
“Being here 12 months ago really boosted my confidence to a level that I never had.”
Reaves is entering his fourth season with the purple and gold, who have gone through dramatic changes the last three years. This season is going to be quite different for the undrafted guard, who won’t just be playing for a new coach but also on a team that has disappointed a lot of its fans with their lack of moves this summer.
Unlike most of those fans though, Reaves has high hopes for the upcoming Lakers season. Here’s everything he said about the current state of the team and more in his most recent visit to Manila.
On believing that the Lakers are still championship contenders
Reaves, who averaged 16.8 points and 3.6 assists in five games against the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs, acknowledged that the Lakers controlled most of that series and even said that they should’ve advanced to the semifinals had it not been for their struggles in crunch time.
The fact that the Lakers have unfinished business is the reason why AR wants to run it back as he believes they’re still championship contenders.
“As our team, I like where we’re at,” Reaves said. “I think we have what we need to compete for a championship. You look back at the Denver series last year, I forgot the statistics but we led like 165 minutes to their like 59 minutes or something and we got beat 4-1, which we can’t really wrap our mind around.”
“So I like where we’re at. And, obviously, getting JJ [Redick] as I was talking about, someone who is a fierce competitor and who we saw in Vegas for Summer League. He came up to us and said that he’s been staring at a white board for three hours trying to figure out how we’re going to do this stuff,” Reaves added. “You can just tell the intensity that he has and know the time he’s going to put in. So like I said I’m super excited for him to kind of lead the charge for us and I really like where we’re at.”
On playing for another rookie head coach in JJ Redick
Based on Austin’s story about his first meeting with Redick in Las Vegas, it seems the coach’s competitive nature has already won him over. Nobody knows what it’s like for an underdog to prove his naysayers wrong more than Reaves, who believes his new head coach will do the same.
“Obviously, a new head coach in JJ Redick, can’t wait to get back to L.A. and go to battle with him,” Reaves said. “He’s a super competitive guy ever since he’s been at Duke. People have been going at him. He’s probably the second most hated player in Duke history so he’s been scrutinized his whole career so he’ll go into coaching with a chip on his shoulder to prove everybody wrong as well because everybody’s talking about how he doesn’t have experience and that the Lakers should’ve probably went in another direction.
“But I’m super excited to get back and work with him because I know the competitive nature that he works with every day.”
On the Lakers drafting Dalton Knecht and Bronny James
Perhaps what is considered the biggest move the Lakers made this summer was drafting Dalton Knecht with the No. 17 pick and forming the first father-son duo in NBA history by selecting Bronny James in the second round. Not only is Reaves excited to team up with these two rookies but he’s also thrilled for LeBron, who he’s shared multiple conversations with about playing alongside Bronny.
“For me to be able to be around him and see what that’s going to be like,” Reaves said. “It’s going to be very cool for me. I also can’t wait to see Bronny grow. Obviously, he gets a bad rap because of who his dad is. Everybody’s going to hold him to the standards of his dad when the kid just wants to play and have fun and create his own path so I can’t wait to get around him and see him grow and ultimately make a career for himself in his own way.”
On fame, personal dreams achieved and what lies ahead
The last two summers have been huge for Austin’s individual success. He inked a long-term contract agreement with the Lakers, earned a signature shoe deal with Chinese basketball brand Rigorer, got the opportunity to go on an Asian tour and is the starting guard of the most prestigious NBA franchise alongside LeBron and Anthony Davis.
As cliche as it sounds, Reaves’ career path is the ultimate depiction of an underdog story and it’s one that he admits still blows him away every now and then.
“Being where I’m from, I’m from a town with a thousand people. My graduating class was 52 and, usually, people just graduate and stay there,” Reaves said. “They don’t really leave. So for me to be in L.A., to have the love and support not just from [Filipino fans] but also from China, every time we landed in the airport, it was a struggle to get to the car because there were so many fans running up for pictures and autographs and stuff like that.
“Every single day and night, I lay down and I’m like, ‘Is this really my life?’ Like I have to almost pinch myself like I’m dreaming. But every day I wake up the next day and do the same thing so it’s a very, very special thing and something that I obviously cherish and don’t take for granted.”
The best part about Reaves’ story is that he’s only at the beginning with more chapters to write. His hope is to, one day, step foot in the Philippines not just as the country’s adopted son but also as an NBA champion.
“Yeah, the goal for next year is to win a championship,” Reaves said. “That’s always the key. Individual accolades, they don’t mean anything unless you got team success. Since I’ve been in the NBA, that’s all I’ve wanted to do. Obviously going to the Western Conference Finals, getting a taste of being really closed just lights a fire under you to get back to that point. Obviously to take that next step and win a championship is always a goal.”