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.
