Lakers’ Austin Reaves makes admission about ‘white guy stigma’ in NBA

Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves isn’t afraid of being the underdog. After all, Reaves is having a monster breakout season, and it has surprised some.

Unfortunately though, because of Reaves being white, there’s a feeling around the NBA that explained to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

“You know, as a white guy in the NBA, I sometimes look at white players and I’m like, ‘They’re not very good,'” Reaves told ESPN. “So, it’s a stigma that I think is real.”

Some of the stereotypes are that they are only shooters, small, not very athletic, and are calm. While Reaves is a shooter, he has a crafty element to his game. He can get to the rim with ease, is a quality ball-handler, and can manipulate defenses.

One of Reaves’s earliest supporters was LeBron James. The latter explained when the Lakers drafted the former Oklahoma guard, he saw what he sees now.

“I saw that early, man,” James told ESPN. “When we picked him up, I went back and started watching his Oklahoma highlights and stuff and seeing the way he could handle the ball and his creative [side], to be able to create shots off the bounce.

“His competitive fire, his drive. … I could see it. I could see he had a spirit about him. He had an energy about him.”

Austin Reaves has the Lakers’ full support

The support even trickles down to some of the newest members of the team. When Reaves explained the ongoing trust with James and Luka Doncic, it seemed that a Big 3 was brewing.

Luckily for the former Sooner, Doncic had his eye on him before they were teammates. Once they joined forces in the City of Angels, there was one game in particular that made Reaves stand out.

“Basketball-wise, I already knew he was that good. But just being around it and seeing him do that, it was [a] higher [realization],” Doncic told ESPN of watching Reaves score a career-high 45 points in a win over the Pacers shortly after the trade deadline.

“I mean, the expectation is that high. I think he has the potential to be an amazing player. He already is.”

The expectations are high, but they have been ones the guard has exceeded, and then some. For starters, he has career-highs in nearly every statistical category.

However, his impact tells more of the story than just the numbers. With the final games coming up, the Lakers will rely on that underdog strength of Reaves as the difference maker.