Austin Reaves Opens Up About Why He Wants to Ditch Two Nicknames

Lakers guard Austin Reaves told ESPN Friday that he doesn’t want to go by two nicknames that he feels are no longer appropriate.

The second-year player said he no longer wants people to call him “AR-15,” a term that also denotes a weapon commonly used in mass shootings, or “Hillbilly Kobe.” The first nickname was used to combine Reaves’s initials and jersey No. 15, and the latter used since Reaves is a Lakers shooting guard from Arkansas.

“I don’t condone any gun violence that happens around our country,” Reaves told ESPN’s Dave McMeniman. “But you can’t really control what [nickname] people give you. I mean, I didn’t come out and say my name was that. There's been others, like the ‘Hillbilly Kobe,’ that probably aren’t the best thing in the situation that's going on, with Kobe’s passing.”

Instead, Reaves hopes fans will give him a new nickname this season.

“I’m always open to new ideas,” he said. “Because there is always another one that might stick and could be better than another one that was previous. So I’m always open to new things and for people to really open up their brains and kind of think of new things for me. That stuff helps us out too in branding situations and stuff like that.”

Reaves is not the first athlete to request people stop using “AR-15.” Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson, who also used that nickname, publicly asked for it to be dropped earlier this week.

Reaves saw what Richardson did and said he was impressed by the decision.

“I’m happy for him. I want him to use his voice,” Reaves said. “Everybody should be able to speak freely on what they believe. I feel like more people need to take stands like this and say what they’re really feeling because that’s how you get things brought up. That’s how you pose questions to raise eyebrows and look into things. So, I’m happy for him and wish him nothing but the best.”