NEWARK, Ark. — Austin Reaves is in the middle of a pasture. The air is heavy and hot, and the gnats are worse than they were a year ago. Yet out here, near the "big pond" where his mom sometimes catches dinner, it's total serenity.
The horizons in all directions are free of man-made structures, framed by deeply rooted green forests slicing into the sky on a calm Wednesday afternoon.
This is home, the soil that sprouted "Hillbilly Kobe," the 6-foot-5 guard the Lakers unearthed after last year's NBA draft. But here, the country kid, who is as country as it gets, isn't quite comfortable.
