If you're one of the few bright spots in a disastrous season for the Los Angeles Lakers, you might deserve to talk a little trash every now and then. That's what Lakers guard Austin Reaves seems to do in his appearance on the new NBA2K25 video game, which sparked fan reactions online. In a snippet uploaded by 2K content creator Chris Smoove on X, formerly Twitter, Reaves claps back at Smoove's MyPlayer (“MP”) for calling him a “wannabe role player.”
Ironically, MP starts the video praising Reaves for how inspirational he was for going undrafted to starting with LeBron James. Then, Reaves gets spicy and brings up MP's earlier comments and challenges him to back up his talk.
VIRTUAL AUSTIN REAVES HAS NO CHILL 💀
— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) September 4, 2024
(via @Chris_Smoove) pic.twitter.com/utg9GlIZau
Lakers fans react
Lakers and NBA2K25 fans reacted to Reaves' video game appearance.
One user recalled the time Reaves said Kobe was better than LeBron while James was playing with the Heat.
“That a homage to AR tweeting about Bron,” the user @cephasmarc85 said.
That a homage to AR tweeting about Bron😂😂😂
— marc cephas (@cephasmarc85) September 4, 2024
Another commenter @braybra 89668382 said, “I'm glad 2K is finally realistic.”
I’m glad 2k is finally realistic
— lakers guy (@braybra89668382) September 4, 2024
Meanwhile, another person recalled another hilarious voice acting performance by an NBA player in a past 2K game.
“Man this made me think of that god awful voice acting by Dion Waiters in a 2k like 10 years ago,” @Sammy_GD said.
Man this made me think of that god awful voice acting by Dion Waiters in a 2k like 10 years ago 🥲🥲🥲🥲
Some commenters also commented on how Austin Reaves' real personality came through in his NBA 2K25 performance.
“You can hear ar trying not to laugh,” @DDP_TheDon said. “Ik bro cheesing hard as hell.”
User @KaptinTha added, “What is this, the AR simulator? This is amazing and accurate as f**k. He's like that.”
Related NewsArticle continues below
The Purple and Gold find a gem
The Lakers should thank their lucky stars that Austin Reaves, or “Hillbilly Kobe,” decided to go undrafted and sign with the team before the 2022 campaign.
After trading for Russell Westbrook, the Lakers had three max players on their payroll, forcing them to sign over-the-hill players like DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard. Westbrook's poor fit showed early, and his hometown team missed the playoffs with a 33-49 record.
In his rookie season, though, Reaves came off the bench and showed flashes of the valuable role player he would become. As the Lakers recovered from the Westbrook trade, Reaves also showed that he was a playoff riser, exploding for 16.9 points on shooting splits of 46.4% from the field and 44.3% from three in his first playoff appearance.
He also hit several big-time shots to lift the Lakers past the Memphis Grizzlies and the Golden State Warriors to advance to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost to the eventual champion Denver Nuggets.
Now, besides being friends with LeBron and a star in NBA2K25, Austin Reaves has become part of the Lakers core. Under new coach JJ Redick, Reaves needs only to work on his defense before the Lakers consider themselves a championship-caliber team.
