Austin Reaves shares how his relationship with his mother helped shape his path to the league.

Austin Reaves’ basketball journey began in the backyard. Before the career-high numbers and water bottle showers, the Newark, Arkansas native had a bigger challenge at hand: beating his mother Nicole Wilkett in a game of H-O-R-S-E.

“I would beat both of them,” Wilkett clarified, noting that the elder Reaves brother, Spencer, was not off the hook.

“I’d have on my pink fuzzy house shoes, and I’d go out there and I’d beat [them],” Wilkett said. “Then I would just have to rub it in. I’ll just be cheering about myself as I’d walk away. And they’re like, ‘No you can’t quit yet. You can’t quit. We’ve got to play another game’. I’m like, ‘No, I won!'”

The competitive nature runs in the Reaves family. They’re a family of ballers; both of Austin’s parents played the sport collegiately, while Spencer plays professionally in Germany. Wilkett was an all-conference forward at Arkansas State.  

“We both have that personality that we don’t like people to be better than we are. I mean, there are better players than we are … but we don’t like that,” Wilkett said when comparing her own game to her son’s. “So we strive and work hard to be the best that we can be to win.”   

This mentality is evident when watching Reaves play. The small-town boy with big dreams used it to his advantage, defying the odds of getting to the league with his mom by his side every step of the way.   

“It was a long shot, honestly,” Reaves shared. “You know, I’m from a town of 1200 people. My graduating class was like 55, so super small. Sports is a big thing – but it’s kind of high school, maybe college. And then that’s really it. But it was a dream of mine that I just kept pursuing.”  

Wilkett remembers the days when an adolescent Reaves would share his future career plans with her, inspired by the Lakers games he’d watch on television and his favorite player, Kobe Bryant.   

“The NBA, that’s quite a goal,” Wilkett reflected. “As a kid he started watching a lot of NBA games on TV, and then he became a huge Kobe Bryant fan. That was his guy. He would walk around occasionally and say, ‘I’m going to the NBA,’ and of course, us: ‘Yeah, okay. Yeah, you’re going the NBA.’”  

Austin Reaves and his mother, Nicole Wilkett. (credit to Nicole Wilkett)

He decided during his middle school years to focus on basketball solely, giving up his baseball glove and the sport he’d originally fallen in love with.   

“I actually had a funny conversation with my dad when I was going into like the seventh grade and I had to pick between baseball and basketball, which one I needed to focus [on]. I went back and I told my dad, I want to play basketball. And he respectfully told me it was a horrible decision,” Reaves laughed. “So I remind him about that all the time.”

Clearly, Reaves made the right one.

By the time he was in high school, he was a household name in his community, where it became evident to Wilkett that those NBA dreams could become a legitimate reality. He averaged 32.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.1 assists his senior year, and she recalls a tournament that put it all into perspective.

“Walking in [to the tournament] as the parent, nobody knowing who I am, and hearing people on the phone saying, ‘Yeah, we’re here to watch that No. 12. That Reaves boy, they all say he’s good’. I’m hearing all this from all of these people, and they don’t even know who I am,” Willkett said. “It was a really neat moment because there were so many people there to watch him play.”

Now, this seems like a pretty typical night at Crypto.com Arena, with folks around the country putting on their No. 15 jerseys ready to watch “The Reaves boy” play. They all say he’s good, and they’re absolutely correct.   

Averaging 12.5 points on the team he watched growing up, the 6-foot-5 guard produced his best performances in the last month. He dropped 35 points against Orlando on March 19 and followed up with a career-best in assists three days after – proving that he’s not only ready for the big stage, but here to stay.

Yet despite the fame, there’s always work to be done. And Wilkett makes that clear.

“People say, ‘Well, how many points did Austin have?’ and I’m like, I don’t have any idea, but he had two turnovers. I can’t keep up with, [and] I don’t keep up with the points, but I can tell you how many free throws he missed, how many turnovers he’s had. And he knows that,” Wilkett shared.

“Yes, he scores a lot of points. But you got to work on that other aspect of your game.”

Reaves said that this approach has pushed him to never settle, and despite the dream come true, he’s still working to be the best player he can be.

Austin Reaves’ Lakers squad has the goal of a postseason appearance in sight.

“My mom from day one was my biggest supporter, also biggest critic too,” Reaves said. “So, you know, it just shaped me to be someone that strives for more every game, every day.”

It’s that determination that turned the undrafted hooper into an integral piece of his Lakers squad, with their eyes on postseason play with under 10 days of regular season action.

Yet, despite the individual performances, or how the season unfolds for his team, there’s one thing that’ll stay the same. Reaves’ mom will always be in his corner.

“My mom is usually the first one I text after every game,” Reaves said. “She definitely gives me some constructive criticism but also tells me how proud of me she is and how much she loves me. It means a lot that every game good or bad, I get a text from her.”

“I try to be very positive. I don’t ever want to be negative because I feel like he’s worked so hard, and he’s accomplished so much. I mean, look where he’s at,” Wilkett said.

“And it always ends with ‘love you’ no matter what.”