Lakers News: Austin Reaves Thinks He Deserves Higher ESPN Ranking
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Since the dawn of athletics, participants have always looked for some sort of edge. It mostly stems from self-motivation. Maybe the player is motivated by the dream of bettering their life, along with those they hold near and dear.
Some are motivated by winning at the highest level. Others might take motivation from being discounted, under-appreciated, or slighted. The 'slight' might not even be that bad. Though, as we've seen with Chicago Bulls shooting guard Michael Jordan, the smallest inkling of disrespect is all he needs to fuel his internal tank.
Third-yar Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Austin Reaves has been discounted his entire life. He doesn't hail from a prestigious prep school or metropolitan area known for churning out high-level basketball prospects. He grew up on a farm in rural Arkansas. Despite a decent college career, Reaves went undrafted. He had to scratch and claw his way to respectability -- and he's done so brilliantly with the Los Angeles Lakers.
However, there's still the 'motivation' factor at play -- evidenced by a recent ranking put out by ESPN.
ESPN ranked Reaves as the 66th-best player ahead of the 2023-24 NBA season. As a guy on the cusp of stardom (having more than proven himself for Team USA in the recent FIBA Tournament), this might appear a bit low objectively speaking.
Austin's brother Spencer certainly thinks so.
In an interview with Mirin Fader from The Ringer, Spencer spoke about ESPN's ranking of his brother -- and what Austin potentially would think about it:
"I can say this confidently. [Austin] would never come out [and say this]. But he could look at the list and be like, 'I'm actually higher than 66.'"
- Spencer Reaves on brother Austin per The Ringer
To put into perspective, Reaves sits just ahead of OG Anunoby, and right below Myles Turner in this pecking order.
Fresh off a 4-year contract extension, we'll see how Reaves can navigate the newfound pressure and hype surrounding his meteoric rise from undrafted free agent to LeBron James's sidekick.
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