LeBron James on discovering Austin Reaves' unique talent and skills

Austin Reaves of the Los Angeles Lakers is one of the few true Horatio Alger-like stories in the NBA. He grew up in Newark, Ark., a small town with a population of just over 1,000, and after playing at Wichita State University and the University of Oklahoma, he came to the Lakers as an undrafted free agent in 2021.

In a relatively short amount of time, he went from being on a two-way contract to being a key part of the Lakers' run to the 2023 Western Conference finals. Since then, he has elevated his game each season, and he's now an undisputed star guard.

Teammate LeBron James invited Reaves to be a guest on his "Mind the Game" podcast recently, and he talked about discovering that Reaves was a unique talent. His first impression was that the 6-foot-5 guard didn't fit the presumed stereotype of white basketball players.

“His wiggle was very different,” James said. “I mean, I grew up in Northeast Ohio, so I know, white guys playing like white guys and white guys playing like, the brothers. And what I could see in his game is that he had a lot of wiggle to his game and that was one of the one things that, quite frankly we were missing, we didn't have. I thought that his game would translate to us. His ability to crack the seams and his ability to get into the paint and him playing, even though their team wasn’t as good at Oklahoma, his game, it showed a pro, and that's what I saw early on. As soon as training camp started, I made it a point to beeline into him and force something into him maybe before he even saw it. Push that belief and that confidence like you belong here.”

It is rare for an undrafted player in the NBA to make it as a fixture in a team's regular rotation, let alone ascend to the heights that Reaves has reached. He's averaging 23.5 points and 5.5 assists a game while shooting 49.4% from the field and 36.2% from 3-point range.

Reaves has earned so much respect and trust from James that James has accepted a new role as the Lakers' third scoring option behind Reaves. This new pecking order seems to be working very well, as the team has won 12 of its last 14 games and is firmly in third place in the Western Conference.

If Reaves continues to shine brightly this spring, Los Angeles could go farther than anticipated in the NBA playoffs over the next couple of months.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James on discovering Austin Reaves' unique talent and skills