With all eyes on them, the young emerging stars receive praise or criticism, but sometimes they also find their plays, and reactions turn into memes. Austin Reaves is one such player, who unintentionally gave birth to one of the most hilarious memes/gifs of the league last year. After the Lakers recently won the first-ever In-Season Tournament, Reaves sat down with analyst and veteran shooting guard JJ Redick, for an interview on the show The Old Man and The Three, where he explained the reason behind his reaction.
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While on the show, Reaves and JJ Redick went into all things basketball and the Lakers. Though Reaves is only 25 years old, he has somehow found a way to secure his spot alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis as a starter on the Lakers.
During the show, JJ Redick hilariously asked Reaves about his iconic meme/gif moment with LeBron back in 2022. The video which blew up after a Lakers-Nets, where Austin Reaves was seen completely mind-blown by LeBron’s analysis, made for a great meme, something that might even go down in NBA history.
It was Reaves’ rookie year and the Lakers were playing Brooklyn. Frank Vogel called a timeout when the Purple and Gold were leading by 15 points. And as any other rookie, Reaves had a few questions going in his head, so he asked LeBron.
” So he( Coach Frank Vogel), draws up the play, and as I was walking out…I ask LeBron, ” I Ain’t Doing Sh*t am I?”…I think he got mine and Russ’s spot backwards. So I think he thought where I was supposed to be Russ was supposed to be.”
Reaves’ reaction caught everyone’s attention, as he seemed to be very confused with LeBron’s explanation, which eventually turned into meme material.
It isn’t clear who got the play wrong, as LeBron isn’t someone known to get plays wrong. This season things are surely looking different for the Lakers, as the In-season champions seem to be fired up and working as a unit whenever the chips are down.
Reaves justifies his “LeBron-hating” past
The late 2000s and early 2010s saw the rise of a new rivalry in the NBA. The NBA stood divided between Kobe and LeBron while choosing who the best player was. Well, for a 14-year-old Austin Reaves, the debate wasn’t close, as Kobe was his favourite player.
Reaves even went as far as to poke The King about his “ringless” status back in 2011-12, posting a hilarious tweet about the same, which read,” When I need some peace, I put my phone on LeBron mode, no rings”.
During the show, Redick asked Reaves about the infamous tweet. Responding to the question, Reaves first clarified that he had already talked to LeBron about the same. Talking about the conversation between him and LeBron, Reaves said,
“We were in New Orleans. I think he played, he might not have. I pulled up my phone after the game, and the first thing I saw was the sports center….and I was like ‘Bron, come here man.’ He came over and I was like ‘I was a Kobe fan. I was s—– on you in 2012. He just busted out laughing.”
King James didn’t seem to care much about Reaves ‘hating’ past, as the duo seemed to have nothing but respect and love for each other.
The Lakers currently sit at the 8th spot in a loaded Western Conference. With the Lake squad taking the Inaugural In-Season Tournament, it would be interesting to see if LeBron and The Lakers can be the first team to win both Championships in a single calendar season.
