Austin Reaves was so far off the radar with high school basketball recruiting analysts, some didn’t give him even one of five stars.
So a decade later, how did Reaves land a $185 million, four-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers in what is the largest contract ever signed by an undrafted NBA player?
It goes beyond the shot-making, the playmaking and the white headband.
Reaves, the 28-year-old shooting guard, averaged 23.3 points, 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game last season and continues to develop as one of the Lakers’ most dynamic players.
Inheriting genes from parents who played college basketball at Arkansas State certainly hasn't hurt. But embedded in his success appears to be character traits.
These traits surfaced long before he signed a two-way contract with the Lakers after the 2021 NBA Draft. The first signs emerged in Newark, Arkansas, a town of about 1,200 people where Reaves grew up on his family’s 300-acre farm.
An assignment for Austin Reaves
When Reaves was a senior at Creek Ridge High School, he took a life skills class with teacher Priscilla Callahan, who said she pushed Reaves to create a backup plan for his career.
Callahan said her fear was Reaves struggled with shoulder injuries that eventually required surgery.
"He just kind of said, ‘I'm going to play in the NBA, and I'll basically (said) figure it out if something happens,' ’’ Callahan told USA TODAY Sports.
Reaves never created a backup plan, and Callahan said she interprets it as self-belief that helped propel Reaves to the NBA.
"That is exactly it," Callahan said. "But there's a difference between what I would say is confidence and cockiness. And he had the confidence."
Reaves has said his representatives told the Detroit Pistons not to pick him in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft. The hope was he could catch on with the Lakers. As he did.
Before the 2024-25, he could have signed a four-year, $53.8 million contract extension. But he chose to hold off and try to increase his leverage. Then he played his best season yet and, as a result, landed the $185 million deal.
'They glue him up'
Reaves, who is 6-5, did not sprout up until his junior year. Those who scouted him earlier may have been put off by his size and chronic shoulder dislocations.
But Isaac Middlebrooks, who coached Reaves at Cedar Ridge, saw the picture differently.
"One of my favorite stories about Austin, we were in the state tournament and I think it was the semifinal game his senior year and Austin hadn't scored yet," Middlebrooks told USA TODAY Sports. "It might've been the start of the second quarter around that time. It's a close game and he dives on the floor after a loose ball and bust open his eyelid."
Reaves bled as he walked across the floor and saw the trainer, according to Middlebrooks.
"And they glue him up," said Middlebrooks, who added he called timeout to buy time as the trainer worked with Reaves.
"Austin, he didn't even stop and say, ‘Hey, you want me to go in coach?’ He just walked right by me, checked in and finished the game with 40-some points. And we won."
The toughness accompanied Reaves to Wichita State, where he played two seasons. And then to Oklahoma, where he played another two seasons. And now to Los Angeles, where he just completed his fifth season.
'Wanted to stick it out'
Cade Crabtree was Reaves' teammate on the high school basketball team and celebrated three state titles in four years.
They were best friends, as were their brothers, who were two years older and top players on the basketball team.
"Me and Austin, were same age, grew up together, best friends since 3 years old and our brothers, same way," Crabtree said. "Growing up, they're bigger, stronger, they're faster.
"Well, we would always play, whether it was a Whiffle ball game or basketball or whatever, me and Austin would always be on the same team knowing that the majority of the time we're about to get spanked by our older brothers.
"They beat us in everything they played us in and every now and then be like, ‘Y'all want to switch up things?’ And we never would because it was like, ‘No, we're going to keep playing y'all till we win.’ "
Which happened maybe once ever 100 games, according to Crabtree.
"But that's just kind of a testament because it's like, yeah, we could have split up and got one of the older brothers on our team made of a more fair game … (Reaves) didn't want it easy. He just wanted to stick it out."
Now Reaves, who’s known in Newark for his non-flashy attire and humble ways, is facing a new challenge, according to Crabtree.
"To be honest, the guy may have to practice learning how to spend more money because that's just not his style," Crabtree said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Austin Reaves' $185M deal with Lakers reflects more than basketball
