Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves said on Mar. 25 that his belief in making it to the National Basketball Association became real during his time at the University of Oklahoma, when legendary head coach Lon Kruger encouraged him after a practice session.
Reaves has become known as one of the league’s top offensive guards, rising from an undrafted player on a two-way contract to a prominent role with the Lakers. His story stands out because few players have made such progress without being drafted.
On the “Mind the Game” podcast with LeBron James and Steve Nash, Reaves described his early confidence and recalled a conversation from childhood: “I mean, I always had like delusional confidence. The weirdest story was, I was, like I said, I’m from a town of a thousand people and there’s nothing to do so you hunt, you fish, you do all the country stuff. I don’t remember this, but my mom’s best friend at the time took me hunting one day and we were sitting there talking and she was like, ‘What do you wanna do?’ I’m probably nine years old and she was like ‘What do you wanna do when you get older’ and I was like, ‘Oh, I wanna play in the NBA,’ and she was like, ‘You mean the MLB?’ And I was like ‘Nah, I wanna play in the NBA.’ And she was like ‘It was the craziest thing because you played, but you didn’t really like actually play.’ But it really came to reality, I was at Oklahoma and Lon Kruger followed me out of practice one day and told me ‘I think you can be a first-round pick.’ And he’s been around basketball forever. He’s coached Buddy [Hield], Trae [Young] … He’s seen everything and once he said that I was like, ‘Oh I got a chance.’”
Kruger had an extensive coaching career spanning 35 years with notable tenures at Oklahoma and Florida as well as experience coaching in college basketball’s top programs. According to Reaves’ account on the podcast episode referenced above, Kruger’s opinion carried significant weight due to his experience working with players such as Buddy Hield and Trae Young.
Although Reaves did not become a first-round draft pick as Kruger suggested might be possible for him at Oklahoma, he has since exceeded expectations for many drafted ahead of him. Now considered among top players in terms of performance—and soon salary—he continues to make an impact for Los Angeles.
LeBron James also spoke about what stood out about Reaves when they first became teammates on the Lakers roster.