Nobody handed Austin Reaves anything. No top recruit ranking. No lottery pick slot. No guaranteed contract waiting when he finished college. He went undrafted, signed a two-way deal, and basically dared the Lakers to cut him.
They didn’t. And five years later, on June 24, 2026, he signed a four-year, $185 million contract to stay in Los Angeles. The kid from Newark, Arkansas, who scored 73 points in a single high school game in front of almost nobody, became the highest-paid player in Los Angeles Lakers history at that contract value.
This is how that happened.
Quick Bio Facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Austin Tyler Reaves |
| Born | May 29, 1998 |
| Birthplace | Newark, Arkansas |
| Age (2026) | 28 years old |
| Height | 6 feet 5 inches (196 cm) |
| Weight | 197 lbs (89 kg) |
| Position | Shooting Guard / Point Guard |
| Jersey Number | 15 |
| High School | Cedar Ridge High School, Newark, Arkansas |
| College 1 | Wichita State (2016–2018) |
| College 2 | University of Oklahoma (2019–2021) |
| Parents | Brian Reaves and Nicole Wilkett (both played college basketball at Arkansas State) |
| Brother | Spencer Reaves (played college basketball at North Greenville and Central Missouri) |
| Drafted | Undrafted, 2021 NBA Draft |
| Declined Pick | Declined to be selected 42nd overall by Detroit Pistons |
| First NBA Contract | Two-way contract, Los Angeles Lakers, August 3, 2021 |
| Converted to Standard | September 27, 2021 |
| NBA Debut | October 22, 2021, scored 8 points vs Phoenix Suns |
| 2025-26 Stats | 23.3 ppg, 5.5 ast, 4.7 reb (career highs) |
| Career Earnings (reported) | Over $41 million before the 2026 extension |
| New Contract | 4 years, $185 million, signed June 24, 2026 |
| Nickname | Hillbilly Kobe |
| Shoe Deal | Rigorer (Chinese brand, signature shoe AR1) |
| Girlfriend | Jenna Barber |
| FIBA | USA Basketball, 2023 World Cup |
Newark, Arkansas: Basketball Was the Family Business
Austin Reaves didn’t stumble into basketball. He was practically born into it.
His father Brian Reaves played college basketball at Arkansas State University. His mother Nicole Wilkett did the same. That means basketball was something Austin saw being played seriously long before he first touched a ball.
Growing up in Newark, a small town in northeast Arkansas with a population that barely exceeds 1,000 people, doesn’t exactly put you in the spotlight. There are no national recruiting scouts hanging around. There are no ESPN cameras at your games.
What there is, in a place like that, is the gym. And the work you do in it when nobody is watching.
Austin’s older brother Spencer was a huge influence. Spencer played college ball too, at North Greenville and then Central Missouri. Austin has spoken about Spencer being central to shaping the type of player he became. Watching an older sibling grind through college basketball, away from home, building something without shortcuts, teaches a younger brother a certain way of approaching the game.
Cedar Ridge High School: A 73-Point Performance
Austin attended Cedar Ridge High School in Newark, Arkansas. His early basketball career unfolded far from the spotlight, in the modest gyms where Class 2A and 3A Arkansas teams compete. Those games rarely attracted national attention, but they provided the stage where he began making a name for himself.
But the performances were impossible to ignore for anyone who saw them.
In his first two years at Cedar Ridge, Austin led the team to back-to-back Class 2A state championships. Then the school reclassified up to Class 3A, and he kept winning. His senior year, he averaged 32.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game and led the team to the Class 3A state title.
He was named Most Valuable Player of the state tournament after averaging 43.3 points across four games. Two-time Class 3A All-State selection.
Then came the game against Forrest City High School. In a triple-overtime matchup, Austin poured in 73 points. Seventy-three points in a single high school game—a remarkable feat, especially on a small-town court in Arkansas.
The numbers were extraordinary. The stage was not. That contrast would define his entire path forward.
Wichita State: The Injury That Disrupted Everything
Austin committed to Wichita State University on January 20, 2016, choosing the Shockers over Arkansas State and South Dakota State. It wasn’t a power conference program, but it was a serious one.
His freshman year didn’t go the way either side hoped. He averaged just 4.1 points per game in a reserve role. Then he had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.
Shoulder surgery for a shooter is a serious setback. The labrum is critical for the kind of arm movement that shooting requires, and recovery takes real time. That surgery interrupted what had been a promising start and forced him to rebuild.
He played two seasons at Wichita State and then made a significant decision. He transferred to the University of Oklahoma, one of the premier programs in the country, in the Big 12 Conference.
There was no guarantee that gamble paid off. He would have to sit out a year after transferring under the rules at the time. He was betting on himself to perform at a higher level against better competition.
Oklahoma: The Breakout That Changed Everything
At Oklahoma, Austin Reaves became a different kind of player than the one Wichita State had recruited.
His senior season was his statement year. He finished the season averaging 18.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game. He earned First Team All-Big 12 honors, placing him among the best players in one of the most competitive conferences in college basketball.
The single moment that announced him most loudly to national audiences came in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32. Oklahoma played Gonzaga, the number one ranked team in the country. Austin scored 32 points in that game. Gonzaga came away with the victory, but it was his performance that captured widespread attention.
A guy averaging strong numbers against elite competition in a major conference, putting up 32 against the nation’s top team in the tournament, should have been a first-round draft pick. He wasn’t.
The 2021 Draft: Undrafted on Purpose
Here is where Austin Reaves’s story gets genuinely unusual.
In the 2021 NBA Draft, he went undrafted. But the way he went undrafted matters. According to reports and his own comments, he declined to be selected 42nd overall by the Detroit Pistons. He chose not to be drafted.
Why? Because he had already been in conversations with the Los Angeles Lakers about a two-way contract. A two-way deal with the Lakers, he apparently decided, was a better situation than being an official draft pick of the Pistons.
That calculation was not obvious. Draft picks have guaranteed money. Two-way contracts are limited, can be terminated, and come with restrictions on how much time you spend with the main roster versus the G League affiliate. Choosing a two-way deal over a guaranteed late second-round pick was a genuine risk.
He signed the two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on August 3, 2021.
The Two-Way Deal That Lasted One Month
The two-way contract didn’t last long. Not because Austin failed — but because he succeeded too quickly.
On September 27, 2021, less than two months after signing the two-way deal, the Lakers converted him to a standard NBA contract. He had shown enough in practice and preseason situations that the organization wanted him on the full roster immediately.
His debut came on October 22, 2021, scoring eight points off the bench in a loss to Phoenix Suns. He appeared in 61 games in that rookie season, starting 19 of them. He was proving himself in real NBA minutes, but his biggest moments were still ahead.
The Comeback Game That Started the Legend
The moment that turned Austin Reaves into something bigger than just another undrafted player came in December 2021.
On December 15, against the Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers needed a win. Austin hit a game-winning three-pointer as time expired, finishing with 15 points on five-of-six shooting from three. Lakers fans exploded. The nickname “Hillbilly Kobe” was already circulating, but this game gave it weight.
He kept building. During the 2022–23 season, he scored 35 points off the bench against Orlando. He finished with a triple-double in the regular season finale. The playoffs were where people truly changed their minds about him — he was the leading scorer and playmaker across a Lakers run that pushed deep into the postseason, all the way to the Western Conference Finals.
That playoff run is what convinced the Lakers to sign him long-term.
The First Big Contract: $56 Million
After that playoff performance, the Lakers signed Austin Reaves to a four-year, $56 million contract on July 1, 2023. He was now an officially recognized NBA starter, not a feel-good undrafted story but a legitimate contributor to a championship-caliber team.
That summer he also represented the United States at the FIBA World Cup in 2023. Playing for USA Basketball at any level is a statement of recognition from the basketball establishment that went to great lengths to ignore him during the draft process.
His 2023-24 season continued the progression. His 2024-25 season pushed to career highs across the board: 20.2 points, 5.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 2.7 made three-pointers per game.
2025-26: Career Highs and Big Moments
The 2025-26 season was his best yet. Austin averaged 23.3 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game — all career highs.
On October 26, 2025, he scored 51 points against the Sacramento Kings, setting a career high. He grabbed 11 rebounds, added nine assists, and made his 500th career three-pointer in the same game. He became the eighth Laker in history to hit 20 or more free throws in a single game.
Three days later, he hit a buzzer-beating floater to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves. Final: 116-115 Lakers. He finished that game with 28 points and 16 assists, tying a career high in the latter category.
On Christmas Day 2024, he hit the game-winning layup with a triple-double (26 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) to beat Golden State.
He also missed significant time during the season with injuries, limiting him to 51 regular-season appearances. That health concern factored into contract negotiations.
The $185 Million Extension: Staying Home
On June 24, 2026, Austin Reaves signed a four-year, $185 million maximum contract extension to remain with the Los Angeles Lakers. The contract also features a player option for the 2029–30 season.
This happened after he declined his $14.9 million player option for the 2026-27 season, testing the market as a free agent. Other teams, including the Brooklyn Nets and an unnamed Eastern Conference team, expressed serious interest.
The Lakers moved fast. Luka Doncic, the team’s star player acquired in a trade from Dallas, publicly expressed support for the Lakers retaining Reaves. That backing from the team’s biggest star almost certainly accelerated the process.
With a four-year, $185 million contract, Austin Reaves joined the ranks of the highest-paid shooting guards in NBA history—a remarkable rise for a player who went undrafted.
Hillbilly Kobe: The Nickname Explained
“Hillbilly Kobe” is the most recognized nickname attached to Austin Reaves. It references both his Arkansas roots and his ability to perform in big moments the way Kobe Bryant once defined for Lakers basketball.
He has embraced it rather than rejected it. The comparison to Kobe is not one most players would invite, given what that standard demands. The fact that Laker fans attached it to him says something about the expectation they put on his shoulders and the way he’s responded to it.
He’s not Kobe. But in moments that require a shot under pressure, in a Laker jersey, he has delivered often enough that the nickname stuck.
Business Beyond the Court
Austin Reaves has built business interests beyond his playing contract.
In March 2023, he signed an endorsement deal with Rigorer, a Chinese sports apparel company. The deal included a signature shoe line called the AR1. Rigorer was previously known for producing signature shoes for other players in the Chinese market. Having his own shoe before becoming a household name in America was another unconventional move in an unconventional career.
His total reported career earnings before the 2026 extension had crossed $41 million. After that extension kicks in, he will earn $185 million more over four years.
Personal Life: Jenna Barber
Austin Reaves has been in a relationship with Jenna Barber for several years. She has been seen with him at a number of public appearances and has also featured alongside him in posts shared on social media.
He keeps his personal life relatively private compared to many players at his level of fame. He doesn’t dominate entertainment headlines the way some athletes do. The focus stays primarily on basketball, which suits both him and the image he has built.
He grew up religious in Arkansas and has spoken about faith as a part of who he is without making it a central part of his public brand.
Why the Story Matters
Austin Reaves is not just an inspiring underdog story. He’s a working example of what happens when someone refuses to accept the draft board’s verdict as final.
He was overlooked at every step. Small-town Arkansas product. Not a top recruit. Had a shoulder surgery in college. Transferred schools. Went undrafted. Signed a two-way deal other people pass on.
At every junction where the system said “not good enough,” he showed up at the next practice and kept working. That’s not romantic. It’s specific. It requires a particular kind of mental discipline that most athletes, even very talented ones, don’t have.
The $185 million is the proof of concept.
Final Words
On the day Austin Reaves signed that $185 million deal, somewhere in Newark, Arkansas, a kid in a small gymnasium was probably working on their shooting form without anyone watching.
Austin Reaves was that kid once. He scored 73 points in a single high school game and was barely recruited. He went undrafted out of a major conference. He signed a two-way contract and got converted in a month.
None of it followed the expected script. All of it followed from the same basic principle: keep doing the work, keep being ready, and let the results answer the question.
That’s the Austin Reaves story. And it’s nowhere near finished.
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