Los Angeles Lakers star, Austin Reaves recalled his early days as the rookie player. He established himself as the core player in the Lakers’ roaster but cannot forget the initial days with LeBron James, who was a hard mentor for him in 2021-22 season.

Austin Reaves went undrafted in the 2021 NBA draft after declining to be selected 42nd overall by the Pistons. He opted to sign a contract with the Lakers and extended it for four years in 2023. In the same year, Reaves scored 28 points off the bench in the championship game of the NBA Cup and the Lakers won the inaugural season of the NBA In-Season Tournament.

LeBron James’ mentorship helped Austin Reaves to become a core player for Lakers

Reaves was talking in an interview with Taylor Gaes of NBA.com, and the Lakers star shared some interesting facts about LeBron James. The former Wichita State student revealed that LeBron was hard on him during his rookie year. He initially got frustrated and also had a fear of criticism from the veteran star.

“I’ll give Bron credit,” Reaves said to Gaes. “Ever since day one, I remember my rookie year, he was on my ass for a two-week stretch, and I was getting frustrated. I would mess up in games, and he would critique me a lot.

“I got real frustrated because I felt like he just kept coming after me. Kept coming after me. But not in a bad way—he just wanted me to be better. I went to Phil Handy (former Lakers assistant), and I was like, ‘He needs to give me a break, I’m still learning.’ And he was like, ‘The only reason he’s on you like that is because he believes in you.’”

“From day one, he’s been one of the biggest reasons that I’ve continued to grow,” Reaves concluded.

James’ guidance has helped Austin Reaves to become a quality player. The 26-year-old recently dropped a 45-point performance to join Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis as the only Lakers to score 45+ points over the last 20 years.

Reaves has started every game so far this season for the first time in his career. The former Oklahoma Sooners student is averaging a career-high 19.1 points per game. He was part of the Lakers’ 123-100 win against the Nuggets on Saturday night.