Austin Reaves

Sometimes young stars are given nicknames so perfect they stick and the player and nickname become synonymous: Earvin Johnson and Magic, Kobe Bryant and the Black Mamba, Austin Reaves and the White Mamba.

Watching Austin Reaves taking over play every time he entered the game for Team USA reminded me of Kobe diving for a loose ball and setting the tone in the first game of the 2007 FIBA qualifying tournament in Las Vegas. That led to my epiphany that Austin Reaves deserves the White Mamba nickname because he’s the NBA player who best represents Kobe Bryant’s intense passion, obsession, relentlessness, resilience, and fearlessness.

Those are the five pillars supporting Mamba Mentality, which is Bryant’s personal philosophy on becoming the best version of oneself. Mamba Mentality is a basketball bible to players like Austin who idolized Kobe. Putting the principles of Mamba Mentality to work is obviously easier said than done, especially when you’re an unknown, undrafted, older white player who played four years and sat out one year of college basketball.

Austin Reaves’ entire approach to the game of basketball has been the result of his embracing of Mamba Mentality. You can see Kobe in the passion with which Austin plays and celebrates his team’s great plays. Reaves’ obsession to grow reminds one of Bryant’s push to get better. His relentlessness and fearlessness in attacking the paint as well as his dogged resilience when the road gets tougher just scream White Mamba!

That’s why Austin Reaves’ accomplishments in the first two years of his professional basketball career show why he deserves the honor of being called the White Mamba. He was inspired by Kobe to play like Kobe.

Why Austin Reaves is White Mamba

Austin Reaves dodged specifically answering when asked by reporters what he meant when he screamed “I’M HIM!” after his Game 1 playoff heroics against the Grizzlies but those who know him know he meant Kobe Bryant.

Reaves grew up in a small Arkansas town as a diehard Kobe Bryant fan. Through his young career, Austin has had numerous nicknames, including Hillbilly Kobe and AR-15, neither of which truly reflected Reaves’ game. White Mamba, on the other hand, is the one nickname that truly captures what Austin Reaves’ game is all about and why he is the best model for a player who lives and believes in Mamba Mentality in the NBA today.

Casual Lakers and NBA fans still view Austin Reaves through their Alex Caruso white-player lenses. While there are some obvious similarities, Austin Reaves and Alex Caruso are two entirely different types of players. While both are smart, competitive, and team oriented players, Caruso is a defense first, pass first player who’s near his ceiling whereas Reaves is an offense first, shoot first player who’s ceiling is All-Star or even beyond.

While Austin Reaves doesn’t have the uber athleticism of a young Kobe Bryant, he plays with the same passion, obsessiveness, relentlessness, resilience, and fearlessness that made Kobe Bryant the Black Mamba.
What Reaves does have is an old school basketball intelligence fueled by Mamba Mentality intensity and versatility that lets him fit seamlessly into any lineup or role, on or off the ball, as a scorer, playmaker, or defender.

It’s near impossible to watch Austin Reaves play without experiencing an epiphany that he’s the one player in today’s NBA whom Kobe Bryant would be most proud of and honored to award the nickname of White Mamba.

Scalabrine’s Claim to White Mamba

No disrespect to Brian Scalabrine, but NBA players don’t give themselves nicknames. They earn them from admirers by their performances on the court. Brian Scalabrine is not Kobe Bryant, nor is he the White Mamba.

The White Mamba is a nickname that must be earned on the court by a player displaying the traits that made Kobe Bryant such a unique and beloved superstar. It’s not a nickname to be assumed by a role player.
What makes giving himself the White Mamba name so insulting is, other than being white, Scalabrine never achieve anything more than being a solid role player in his career. As Scal himself says, it was all just a joke.

“The story behind it is, you know Kobe had the shoes. You remember the commercial where jumped over the car, and him and Ronnie Turiaf, right. So, I loved those shoes, I wore his shoes all the time anyways. You have Nike ID, you could make those online so I made one, they had the snake skin. I made it white, I put red bottoms on’em. And then I slapped them down on the table in front of Stacy King, and I said White Mamba 1.0’s.”

Frankly, Hillbilly Kobe and AR-15 were embarrassing nicknames for a player who’s future looks unlimited right now. As fans get to know more about young Austin Reaves, his love and connection to Kobe Bryant will emerge. More and more, I expect Lakers fans to have the same epiphany I did and start calling Austin Reaves by the nickname he deserves. Nobody in the league better deserves to be called the White Mamba than Austin Reaves.

It’s time for Brian Scalabrine to renounce the White Mamba nickname he kiddingly gave himself so Austin Reaves will be able to embrace the honor of assuming the White Mamba nickname for playing the game like Kobe.

Austin Reaves is such a hot NBA story right now that you have to forgive drunk and delirious Lakers fans speculating whether ‘Hillbilly Kobe’ could develop into the elusive third superstar L.A. needs for a new Big Three.

What Austin Reaves has done in just two seasons going from an undrafted rookie to clearly the third best player on the Lakers’ roster and arguably the third best player on the star-studded Team USA roster has been amazing. Unfortunately, as great as 25-year old Austin Reaves is, there’s not enough time left for him to develop into the Lakers’ third superstar before 38-year old LeBron James decides to hang up his sneakers and finally retire.

The other issues with Austin Reaves is he’s already 25-years old, having spent four full years playing college basketball, and does not boast the elite physical body and ultra athleticism that sets apart superstar prospects. What Reaves does possess though that gives him possible All-Star and Superstar upside is a LeBron James level of BBIQ, a lethal 50/40/90% sweet shooting stroke, and a Kobe Bryant ‘Mamba-like’ drive to become great.

The big question is what is Austin Reaves NBA ceiling. We already know he can be a big-time contributor but let’s examine the pro and con cases for Austin as an Elite Starter, an All-Star, or eventually even a Superstar.

Austin Reaves, Elite Starter

Austin Reaves will embark on his third season in purple and gold already firmly entrenched as an Elite Starter and the team’s third best player, with a brand new 4-year $54 million contract and hopefully a FIBA gold medal.

Credit for the Lakers’ strong finish last season is generally attributed to Pelinka’s trade deadline moves but Reaves taking advantage of Westbrook’s touches and minutes to elevate his game to a new level was just as critical. In retrospect, Austin Reaves replacing Russell Westbrook was the catalyst that fueled the New Look Lakers to make it to the Play-In Tournament and eventually to the Western Conference Finals where they lost to Denver.

The next step in Austin Reaves evolution is for the Lakers to give him the ball and let him play more point guard, a role he excelled at during the team’s strong finish to the regular season and their success in the playoffs. While Reaves and Russell were a solid starting backcourt for the Lakers late last season and through most of the playoffs, the team’s interest in having Austin play more point guard could portend a midseason D’Angelo trade.

Bottom line, Austin Reaves finished last season averaging 13.0/3.0/3.4 in 28.8 minutes per game while shooting 52.9%/39.8%/86.4%. Before the trade deadline, he averaged 10.7/3.1/2.2 while shooting 49.1%/36.9%/88.9%. During the playoffs, Reaves raised his game to that of an Elite Starter, averaging 16.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists in 36.2 minutes per game shooting 46.4% from field, 44.3% from deep, and 89.5% from the line.

Austin Reaves has already proven he has the ability to be an Elite Starter in the NBA. Now he just needs to perform at that level for a couple of seasons. We’ll have a better idea of how high his ceiling really is after this season.

Austin Reaves, All-Star

Lakers head coach Darvin Ham expects Austin Reaves to compete for a spot on the West All-Star team. After a sensational playoffs, Reaves is poised to enjoy a breakout regular season that could earn him an All-Star selection.

After averaging 16.9/4.4/4.6 in 36.2 minutes per game in the playoffs, the Lakers plan to give Reaves even more touches at point guard to take better advantage of his playmaking skills and fit with superstars James and Davis. Assuming he will probably play the third most minutes on the Lakers, Austin could have an opportunity to average 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game, which would make him a legitimate All-Star candidate.

The recognition Reaves is receiving right now for his terrific play in the FIBA exhibition games as well as his role as a Lakers’ fan favorite will both help him immensely when it comes to making the West All-Star team. While the competition to be one of the guards on the West’s All-Star team is extreme, Reaves has an chance with a 20/5/5 season with 50%/40%/90% shooting and help from Lakers fans to earn a surprise West All-Star spot.

Last year’s West starting guards were Doncic (32.0/8.0/8.6) and Morant (26.2/8.1/5.9) with Gilgeous-Alexander (31.4/5.5/4.8), Lillard (32.2/7.3/4.8), Edwards (24.6/4.4/5.8), Curry (29.4/6.3/6.1), Fox (25.0/6.1/4.2) as reserves. While Reaves’ averaging 20.0/5.0/5.0 won’t compare to the numbers of several of the superstar guards who made last season’s West All-Star team, Austin still has a long-shot chance of being an All-Star because of fans.

Austin Reaves is probably a season or two and a championship away from averaging 25.0/8.0/8.0 and being selected for an All-Star game appearance. It’s just a matter of time and experience before AR becomes an All-Star.

Austin Reaves, Superstar

As the third best player on the Lakers and arguably third best player on Team USA, Austin Reaves has delirious Lakers fans pondering if Hillbilly Kobe could become the team’s third superstar next to LeBron and AD.

Frankly, since the coming season could theoretically be LeBron James final season in purple and gold, Austin Reaves will simply not have enough time to develop into a superstar and form a Big Three with James and Davis.
The better question is does Reaves have the upside to make the jump from NBA All-Star to superstar. While going from elite starter to All-Star is like high school to college, the jump to Superstar is like college to the pros.

The hype surrounding Austin Reaves has been out of this world and much of it because Reaves looks more like the average NBA fan than NBA player. In many ways, Austin is his generation’s Larry Bird, the great white hope. Reaves doesn’t have out-of-the-world talent and athleticism, can’t jump out of the gym, and wasn’t even drafted two years ago after playing four years of college basketball. What he does have is a sweet stroke and great BBIQ.

While Reaves won’t have time to grow into a superstar before LeBron is going, the Lakers are hoping Austin’s ability to score and create plays at all three levels will enable him to become Anthony Davis’ superstar partner. The Lakers also plan to experiment more with Austin Reaves playing point guard, which would enable them to trade D’Angelo Russell before the trade deadline without having to bring back a starting point guard in return.

Does Austin Reaves have a chance to develop into a legitimate Superstar? The odds are slim and none considering his raw talent but if he can shoot like Bird, think like LeBron, and compete like Kobe, anything’s possible.