Austin Reaves is in the middle of a meteoric rise in the NBA. After a stellar season with the Lakers, Reaves secured a four-year, $54,000,000 contract from the Lakers in free agency this summer. Following his signing, the LA star recently sat down with NBA analyst, Zach Lowe to discuss the deal and what it means to him. Reaves, 25, ended up showing great humility as he called basketball nothing more than a ‘kid’s sport’ and displayed gratitude for the opportunities he has received.
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Reaves’s current contract keeps him tied to the Lakers until the 2025-26 NBA season while earning an average salary of $13.5 million annually. Further, he has a player option available for the 2026-27 campaign.
Overall, the star’s new contract is a very lucrative deal for him. Before securing it, AR15 was arguably a top-three player for the Lakers every single night. He averaged 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game. He even shot 52.9% from the field, 39.8% from three, and 86.4% from the free-throw line.
Austin Reaves remains extremely pleased with his current contract
During his sit-down on the ‘Lowe Post‘ podcast, Austin Reaves was asked if he had considered going to the San Antonio Spurs to play with Victor Wembanyama. He hinted that the thought was certainly there. However, Reaves also revealed that he was assured by the Lakers that the franchise would match any offer that came their way.
On this note, Lowe asked if Reaves was bitter towards the San Antonio Spurs for refusing to offer him the maximum he was eligible for (approximately $70 million). Responding to it, ‘the Hillbilly Kobe’ said the following:
“It’s hard to be mad at making $54M… That’s way more money than I ever thought I would make, especially playing basically a kid’s sport for a living…Obviously, I wish that I could’ve got as much money as possible, but like I said: fit and opportunity, here in LA was really what we wanted and really where we wanted to be.” [4 min mark]
To call basketball a ‘kid’s sport’ certainly won’t sit well with some. However, it just shows the level of humility the player has. He seems to deeply understand many would kill to be in the same position as him. And because of it, he seems nothing but grateful.
It’s a good thing too, considering he will be earning more money than Magic Johnson ever did in the NBA.
Austin Reaves’s recent contract supersedes Magic Johnson’s career earnings
Magic Johnson played in the league during the 80s. However, considering he was arguably the best player in the league at the time, many would think he made quite a bit of money from the NBA. But that was not the case, by current standards at least. But to be fair, his $39,342,860 in 13 seasons is no small amount.
That being said, as mentioned previously, Austin Reaves is set to earn $54,000,000 in just the upcoming four years. That alone overshadows the Lakers legend’s entire career earnings.
