Lakers' Austin Reaves Reveals Moment 'Weight of the World' Was Off His Shoulders

Feb 9, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) dribbles the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins (21) during the third quarter at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Few NBA star players have had a journey to get where they are, like Austin Reaves of the Los Angeles Lakers, who went from a no-name undrafted rookie to one of the best guards in the league while sharing the spotlight with two generational talents, Luka Doncic and LeBron James.

It's not easy to make the Lakers' roster as a young player, let alone emerge as a legitimate star in the league in purple and gold, but that's precisely what Reaves has been trying to accomplish, as he seems to get better and better with more time on the floor in Los Angeles.

Austin Reaves Reveals Moment Where Nervousness Subsided

Mar 29, 2025; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) reacts with forward LeBron James (23) during the second quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

As if Reaves' path to NBA stardom wasn't incredible enough, the University of Oklahoma product had to prove himself while playing alongside a roster filled with future Hall of Famers and some of the biggest names in the league.

During an interview with SLAM, Reaves opened up about the moment he started to feel comfortable and have a sense of belonging playing with stars LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Dwight Howard, Anthony Davis, Carmelo Anthony and Rajon Rondo.

"At first, I was super nervous," Reaves said. "I remember I was the first one in the gym the morning of the practice. Everybody started filing in and it was Bron, Russ [Westbrook], Melo [Anthony], AD [Anthony Davis], Dwight [Howard]. And I’m sitting there thinking, What the hell is going on? So, I was definitely nervous at first. And then once we got to running up and down, I felt more at home and [it] just became [about] playing basketball. But there was one play in particular, we drove down, went past [Rajon] Rondo and then threw a no-look pass to Bron and he dunked it. And after that, it felt like the weight of the world was off my shoulders, and it was just time to play basketball."

That list of players is basically an All-Star team, and each player has either been inducted into the Hall of Fame, namely Howard and Anthony, or will be inducted in the near future. It doesn't get much more intimidating than that, but Reaves was able to hold his own and prove his worth, which is impressive, to say the least.

During the 2025-26 campaign, Reaves continues to ascend as a star on the rise in the NBA, having the best year of his professional career thus far. The 27-year-old is currently averaging a career-best 25.4 points, 6.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game, while helping the Lakers get to a record of 33-21 ahead of the All-Star break.