From The Sticks | The Unexpected Journey of Austin Reaves | Short Film

[Music] just 20 minutes west of nearby Batesville Arkansas Newark isn't home to much it's a small town of less than 1200 people and doesn't often find itself in the news but around a decade ago a young kid by the name of Austin Reeves began making noise across the state and little did people know that one day he'd put his hometown on the map it's been a great story um honestly and I only put one year AAU so I wasn't really you know into basketball like that I play baseball more so growing up but both my parents played at Arkansas State my brother plays in Germany now and I remember being probably eighth grade and him dragging me to the gym because I think he's seen something in me that I didn't even see I was wanting to go hang out with my friends and run around and do stupid to be honest but he was making me go to the gym get up you know 500 shots a day play one-on-one all day and I think it just uh he instilled something in me that I knew I was gonna have to do and it was work harder than everybody else and my Journey's been uh nothing less than you know uh intriguing honestly just because you know not many people make it um from where I'm from it wouldn't take long for the hard work to reveal itself on the court as from the time he suited up for Cedar Ridge High School as a freshman Austin would immediately begin putting together one of the most decorated careers in State history in his four years on Varsity the younger Reeves brother would help his team win three state championships including a senior campaign that saw Austin drop 32 points per game on his way to All State honors between dropping 73 points in a single game and averaging over 43 points per game in the state tournament the legend of Austin Reeves had quickly spread across the state of Arkansas coming up with oh really see if Reese has some UPS [Music] despite being one of the top players in the state coming from a small 3A school and not having the benefit of playing years of AAU meant that there weren't as many eyes on Austin's game from a national level something that Reeves would have to come to terms with early on oh I sacrificed a lot of you know going out partying um that wasn't really what I did when you know even when I was 10th 11th grade I was always in the gym so and that's what like I said my brother taught me was you know you're from a town of 1200 people you know the school is really little didn't play you so you gotta you gotta work way way harder than everybody else is because everybody else you know from big big cities you know getting notoriety even you know if my skill level is just as good as theirs it's not going to matter um so I sacrificed a lot of you know social events to go hang out with with my friends and and have fun but I only had probably three or four scholarship offers um I think I averaged 32 in my senior year like eight and five and it was it was crickets uh like besides other than I think it was like Wichita State South Dakota State Arkansas State finally offered but they were going through a coaching change Austin would decide to attend Wichita State University a program that was just three years removed from a final four appearance but would see his freshman season plagued with a nagging right shoulder injury in the off-season Reeves would elect to have surgery on a torn labrum in hopes of fixing the issue and by his sophomore season Austin was ready to take on a bigger role for the Shockers so he's a Terminator in the class reads and a foul chance at a four-point play there's Reeves they left him open another three yes seven triples following two seasons is a role player at Wichita State Austin was determined to not only make the move to a power five conference but proved that he was capable of a larger contribution at the NCAA level an opportunity that would come from a school just one state below uh so we had played Oklahoma the two years uh when I was at Wichita State and uh coach Krueger is a a players coach that was basically the opposite of what I had at Wichita State so I was looking to go somewhere that I was able to kind of be more myself instead of uh you know really like that plug and play Like Glue guy that you know figures it out and do multiple different things so I was just trying to get to a situation where you know I could be more myself and really just hope honestly having to register his first year in Norman due to NCAA transfer rules it wouldn't take long for Austin to prove to The Sooner basketball staff that Not only was he destined to be one of their best players but he may be the school's next NBA Talent when I transferred I think we played pickup in the summer a couple times and I was killing uh one of the assistant coaches called uh one of my guys helped me get recruited and was like basically you undersold him like he's better than what you said and he was like were you complaining and he was like no no no no we're good the NC tournament on the national stage as Reeves is able to get that commercial Reeves with Sims steps back I was walking out to the parking lot and Coach Krueger was walking out behind me and he stopped me and he was like God I think you could be a first round pick after uh because I redshirted one year and then then I was like damn like this man has seen a lot of basketball coach a lot of players um so I want to see Saturday kind of you know was reality [Music] kid that's why and Reeves attacking again seven Baylor turnovers has 39. we've got to go we're taking too long briefs for the win get it [Music] [Applause] in his two years at Oklahoma Reeves would start all 56 games averaging a career-high 18 points and 4.6 assists per game as a senior on his way to all Big 12 honors Austin's crafty game and aggressive play style had earned him respect on the hardwood in one of the country's toughest conferences and with a new confidence in his game Reeves would elect to take on a new challenge declaring for the 2021 NBA draft [Music] despite being projected as a late second round pick Austin and his Camp received word prior to draft night that the Los Angeles Lakers were interested in signing him to a two-way deal should he go undrafted information that led to Reeves holding out from getting drafted in hopes of finding himself in a better situation on the West Coast there was a really high interest going into the draft that if I didn't get drafted that La was wanting me on a two-way and so kind of going into the draft uh you know my agents did a really good job of like laying everything out I didn't have to press and I didn't have to you know if someone called it like I think it was Detroit called at 42 it was like we'll take him on a two-way I didn't have to like jump on that opportunity because I knew like a better situation uh was was kind of already on the table um so I think that happened a couple times in the draft like in the 40s in the 50s and you know is is Saturday what as it was to not hear my name called I feel like we did the right thing honestly one of the one of the biggest factors into all of it was was actually LeBron like it was someone that I knew and my agents knew that we would connect on a on a IQ level of basketball originally signed to a two-way deal with the Lakers a strong summer league performance would be enough to convince Los Angeles to sign Austin to a standard NBA contract prior to the start of the regular season this meant that Reeves had now earned the trust of the team's front office but earning the trust of his new Hall of Fame bound teammates would be the bigger challenge so we did like brown has a mini camp every year uh the the weekend before training camp starts and we went to Vegas and I remember I first wanted the gym but everybody starts piling in you know you see Russ she's A.D Brian Dwight uh who else we have Melo Rondo and then you had it on top of that you had guys that have been in the league 10 plus years so everybody was basically solidified they didn't have to do anything else for their career I remember we were doing just a basic 5-0 drill and Brian dribble Baseline and throw me a dart to the corner now it was literally all slow motion like the first thing that part of my head was I was like please catch it like just catch the ball and the second was so it's in the corner left corner I remember and next was like just don't hit the backboard I don't care if you hit Rim don't hit the side of the backboard don't care if you miss it just don't don't hit the backboard uh so I shot it and I'm like yeah it felt horrible but it went all net and I was it was a big sigh of relief I was like we're gonna we're gonna get through this all right thank God Brown had the mini camp uh because you know none of the coaches were really there um and that was basically my time to to get all the butterflies away uh like I said earlier the the past he made me that whole day was a little iffy uh the next day was a lot better and then when we got into training camp it was just it came down to hooping so that's something I've been doing for a long time leading into his rookie season there weren't many expectations for Reeves to be a large part of the rotation but as the season got off to a slow start for the Lakers Austin was more than ready for his opportunity I got a DMP the first game I think I think we played Golden State actually uh they smacked Us by like 30 and I think it was when my first career ever DMP so I was like I was tweaking afterwards I didn't know how to act I looked at my ages and was like y'all y'all in this history tonight like this was my first one and I didn't know you know how that was gonna go um from there on out um but game two I think we were playing Phoenix and I think we were getting beat by like 25 at the end of the third and coach was like awesome go like you start the force whatever and I think we went on like a 15-0 run kind of made it a game late not really it was a little too late but uh after that I was I was in rotation basically the whole year I had a little couple dmps late but uh it was it was exciting like I said I always figured out a way to you know fill the fill the gaps that we uh needed to be filled um obviously we didn't win like we wanted to last year but uh for me it was it was a really good season from that injury [Applause] for the Lakers now you see him now he built in the Westbrook final seconds out the range three-pointer bangs freeze gives him a three-point lead with nine tenths of a second remaining it's the Thompson gets right past Oh What A Flock by Reeves awesome Reeves all the way throw it up and in Austin Reeves put into mind skates following a rookie campaign that had seen him play in 61 Games Starting 19. Austin had carved himself a role in the rotation courtesy of his IQ And Timely scoring touch this proved that he had what it takes to place solid minutes at the NBA level however heading into year two Reeves was ready to prove that he was capable of an even larger role with the Lakers you know I spent a lot of time in the gym I was here basically the whole summer I went home for probably three weeks or so and then was back but was in the weight room a lot and then like you said you know just working on a lot of catch and shoot stuffs and then you know everything else you know just trying to get better all in all but I'm super excited for for the season to start [Music] [Applause] goodness [Music] [Applause] move by Austin Reeves [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Austin's 20-23 season has been one of growth for the former undrafted rookie turned starting guard under the lights in La Reeves has become a reliable offense of Peace so much so that over the last 20 games of the regular season he averaged over 16 points per game including a career-high 35-point outburst and a win over Orlando now you see why he's a crowd favorite this success would carry over into the postseason where in his NBA playoff debut Reeves would step up big under the national Spotlight helping the Lakers upset the higher-seeded Grizzlies in game one on the road kicks it out to an open race for three puts it in as the shot cliers briefs fakes Reeves behind the back hachimura three-pointer punch it in please drizzly's trying to win without Moran three to three [Applause] reads 21 points three assists gets inside off balance jumper got it [Music] again Austin Reeves in his first playoff game he's got 23. the story of Austin Reeves is one of perseverance and dedication taking The Road Less Traveled he's established himself as a key player for one of the most historic franchises in sports something that seemed Unthinkable growing up in a small town you know how it goes like if you try to take shortcuts and you know mess with the game a little bit it it doesn't end up well for you so it was more so just do the right things on and off the court and then other than that just believe in yourself I definitely got a lot of a lot of [ __ ] for you know chasing my dream but like you said I just wanted to make it and then look back when I did and basically throw the middle finger up and move on Austin Reeves journey is just another example of how no matter the location or the circumstances where there's a ball a dream and a dedication to the game then even a kid from a small town in Arkansas can have the chance to shine for the world to see [Applause] it'll kind of a ghost [Applause] [Music] [Music] really

Channel: Trice

Views: 306,540

Keywords: Austin Reaves, Austin Reaves highlights, Austin Reaves top plays, austin reaves 2023, Austin Reaves nba playoffs, NBA, NBA playoffs, Los Angeles Lakers, Austin Reaves mix, Austin Reaves documentary, Austin Reaves short film, NBA documentary, basketball documentary, sports documentary, Austin Reaves college, Austin Reaves high school, Austin Reaves interview, LeBron James, NBA draft, Austin Reaves buzzer beater, Austin Reaves lebron, dunk, basketball, Trice, Oklahoma Sooners

Id: Rs5jLc7jPdE

Length: 18min 20sec (1100 seconds)

Published: Mon May 15 2023