In less than two years, Austin Reaves went from relative anonymity as an undrafted player from small-town Arkansas to a rising star on the Los Angeles Lakers.
These days, everyone knows who he is, and everyone knows he has arrived as a quality NBA player. He is armed with a new four-year contract worth over $50 million, and he is spending the summer playing for Team USA as it prepares for the FIBA World Cup.
Being a Lakers standout means Reaves has had the opportunity to meet some of the celebrities that attend the team’s games. While on the “Full Send Podcast,” he recalled the time he met Will Ferrell and how excited the actor was to meet him (h/t Lakers Nation).
“Probably Will Ferrell. I actually met him at a charity event that Clayton Kershaw does, a ping pong tournament and this is one of the craziest stories I’ve had so far. I was with one of my friends and he’d seen him. I don’t wanna ask people for pictures cause I’m kinda shy and I don’t like to do that, but my friend is like, ‘We got to take a picture with him.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I agree.’ So, he was walking our way and I was about to stop and introduce myself and ask for a picture honestly. He looks at me and he was like, ‘Austin?’ I was like, ‘Yes sir.’ He was like, ‘I’m a huge fan!’ I was like, ‘Oh [expletive], me too!’ He was like, ‘You care to take a picture with my son?’ I was like, ‘No, obviously not, as long as I can get one with you.’ But, that was the one, that I was like this is cool. And he’s just like as you see in movies, we talked for 5-10 minutes and he’s just as funny in real life.”
Ferrell has always been a big basketball fan, and he can sometimes be spotted at Lakers home games. He reportedly refuses to sometimes grant autograph requests, but it is a sign of Reaves’ ascension that he wanted to take a picture with the Lakers guard.
