Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Austin Reaves is excited to bring his underdog story to the world stage.
Reaves, who joined the Lakers as an undrafted free agent in 2021, has since become a respected NBA player who can compete with the world's best.
Reaves first played with Team USA in the 2023 FIBA World Cup where Germany took home its first-ever title and the Americans fell short of the medal podium. The shooting guard hopes to build off that experience and bring home another gold medal for the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Reaves said while he's now at the top of the game, the path to success was not always clear. He had the talent to excel in basketball during his adolescence, but to make it to the professional level he occupies today, he said he needed to push himself past daily struggles and always put in extra work.
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Learn more about the worlds of past and future Olympic and Paralympic athletes with our Chasing Gold series
And no one drove that mindset home more than his brother, Spencer.
"There were probably times in the seventh grade where he would drag me out and take me to the gym," Reaves recollected.
"And I'm yelling the whole time that 'I don't want to go! I don't want to go!'"
"You know, he's definitely talked me off the ledge a few times," Reaves continued. "If I had to give appreciation to mostly to someone it would be him just for, you know, paving that path for me."
