All My Laker Homies Hate Austin Reaves

 

Is the hate justified or over-the-top?

We are now just nearly a week away from the start of the new NBA Season. And the Lakers have undergone an extreme makeover this past offseason. Out goes LeBron James, Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura, and Jaxson Hayes. In goes Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton, and among others.

The most important headline here is that the Lakers are giving Luka Doncic full free reins to the team after allowing LeBron to walk to Philly. Though there are new faces on the team for Luka to work with, at least he'll have one running mate there in the backcourt that'll give him a sense of continuity.

And that man is Austin Reaves. 

The Lakers didn't waste any time at the start of the offseason to lock up Reaves to a 4-year, $185 million contract. It is without question the largest contract accepted for an NBA player that went undrafted. 

Austin Reaves' story offers a lot of "feel-good" vibes in the NBA. This is a kid that went undrafted.  Year by year, he has carved out a role into the Lakers and has continually increased his production output in the stats sheet each season. For a small sample size last year, when the Lakers were missing both Luka and LeBron, Reaves was the unquestioned #1 go to guy and he was putting up "All-Star" tier numbers before nagging injuries piled on and stunted his sensational regular season start.

Though Reaves' journey should be a source of inspiration for those who want to make it into the NBA as an undrafted player, there is a lot of skepticism surrounding whether Reaves can be a legit or is a legit player in the league. And the biggest source of this skepticism is coming from...the Laker fanbase itself.

I've been following a specific Laker fan page on Facebook for some time (since 2017 to be exact). And the admins who run that page are openly very critical about Austin Reaves' place in the Lakers since his breakthrough campaign in the 2022-23 NBA season when the Lakers went on a deep playoff run to the Conference Finals. And if you are in a dissenting opinion and defend/justify Reaves' place, they double down that Reaves has not proven himself, doesn't have the All-Star accolades, and he should be traded or accept a Sixth Man role. Each time a trade rumor comes up involving Reaves in a hypothetical trade package (mostly which are either satire or an unrealistic trade path for the Lakers because NBA teams want the Lakers to overpay in trades), if you side on "keep Reaves", the admins double down, citing the same reasons mentioned, and they accuse you of being a Reaves fan or overrating him like he's the second coming of Larry Bird.

So I am trying to read this situation. Why exactly is Austin Reaves the most polarizing player among Laker fans? And is the hate justified or over-the-top?

If we look on the flip side, yes some of Austin Reaves' game warrants some criticism. He's had stellar regular season numbers. But in the playoffs, those same numbers dwindle down, especially in a 7-game series against the same opponent. In 2025, he played poorly. In 2026, granted he was coming off an injury, but wasn't great opposite to what the stats sheets say against a more athletic defensive team like the Oklahoma City Thunder. And yes, he is a not-so-great perimeter defender and we are very scared to see how he and Luka will fare this season no matter how much guys like Walker Kessler, Ziaire Williams, and Matiesse Thybulle are added to cover their deficiencies on defense.

But some of the negative Austin Reaves discourse I've seen in the past from this Laker Fan Page on Facebook is a bit over-the-top. Most of the time I'm thinking, these admins are imploring the Lakers to get rid of Austin Reaves at this point just for the sake of getting rid of him. I can name a few hot takes on the top of my head that they've given out through the years that  decreases your basketball I.Q. each time you read them (paraphrasing here): 

"D'Angelo Russell is better than Austin Reaves because he's a better shooter and he is an All-Star unlike Reaves." - D'Lo gets passed around NBA teams year-to-year due to his erratic play.

"Gabe Vincent can do the same things Austin Reaves can do, but he can play defense." - The same Gabe Vincent who only had one good year in Miami, disappeared for the Lakers, and only averaged 2.0 PPG in last year's playoffs with the Hawks?

In a hypothetical trade scenario where the Lakers trade Reaves to the Pelicans for Zion Williamson: "Zion Williamson is more talented and has a few All-Star nods unlike Reaves." - Ok, have fun with more injury and weight management problems.

And of course in choosing between Reaves and LeBron in this free agency, these admins would rather have the Lakers re-sign LeBron to a max contract and let Reaves walk. And despite all that, the Lakers were not hesitant to choose 28-year old Reaves over 41-year old LeBron James. Let that sink in.

Even though there is more to be desired from Reaves, especially with the contract the Lakers gave him this past summer, the Lakers brought him back mainly because of Luka Doncic. You can't deny the immediate on and off court chemistry they have built with each other (they're like brothers at this point). And from a basketball standpoint: he fits the timeline (he's a year older than Luka) and the Lakers see him as a secondary scorer/facilitator. He's essentially taking that Kyrie Irving role as a secondary scorer / facilitator when Luka and the Mavs made the NBA Finals in 2024. And that is exactly the Lakers' plan this offseason: build a team similar to that 2023-24 Mavs team, but with incrementally more offensive output. And Austin Reaves is expected to take on a bigger role as the unquestioned #2 on the roster.

Through Austin Reaves, the Lakers have done something that hasn't been in their franchise encyclopedia for a very long time: develop a homegrown talent. An undrafted one of all players! So regardless on which coin you side when it comes to Austin Reaves, the fact of the matter is this: he is a Laker. And he is here to stay for the foreseeable future whether you like him or not. And if it's not Austin Reaves in the backcourt with Luka, then who is a realistic piece that the Lakers can get that can take his place?