Internet Sleuths Discover Austin Reaves Loved To Troll LeBron On Social Media As A Teen

Los Angeles Lakers teammates Austin Reaves and LeBron James

Getty Image


It’s been pretty hard to ignore what Austin Reaves has managed to achieve over the course of the current NBA season as the shooting guard has slowly but surely emerged as one of the most promising players on the Lakers’ roster.

Reaves declared for the NBA Draft following his senior year at Oklahoma in 2021 and opted to sign a two-way deal with Los Angeles after seeing his name passed over by the time the event wrapped up.

He made a good enough impression in training camp to earn a spot on the team before making his NBA debut at the start of last season, and it’s safe to say he’s come into his own over the course of his first two years in the league.

Over the weekend, Reaves emerged as the somewhat unlikely hero in LA’s 111-105 win over the Magic where he put up a career-high 35 points in addition to six rebounds and six assists—a performance that earned him a shoutout from LeBron James.

Reaves responded to that praise after the game by saying it “means a lot” while alluding to an old (and less-than-flattering) social media post concerning his current teammate that had started to make the rounds.

It turns out Reaves is just the latest in a long line of NBA players who’ve fallen victim to internet detectives who were able to dig up some fairly ancient online activity, as it’s pretty clear the man who shares a locker room with LeBron was not a huge fan of the generational talent during his teenage years.

Those sleuths uncovered a handful of Facebook and Twitter posts where Reaves called out James for getting outplayed by Dirk Nowitzki in the 2011 NBA Finals, shared a meme criticizing his inability to win a ring, and retweeted another calling LeBron out for needing to form a superteam to secure his first title with the Heat. 

As was the case with Ja Morant, it would be foolish to actually judge Reaves for some fairly innocent posts he made around a decade ago, but that doesn’t make them any less entertaining.

Connor Toole avatar and headshot for BroBible
Connor Toole is the Deputy Editor at BroBible. He is a New England native who went to Boston College and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. Frequently described as "freakishly tall," he once used his 6'10" frame to sneak in the NBA Draft and convince people he was a member of the Utah Jazz.