Austin Reaves, who had a promising professional debut campaign for the Lakers last season, became a fan favorite in Los Angeles.
The last time we saw Austin Reaves on the court, he became the second undrafted free agent to record a triple-double. The rookie, whose initials are AR, wore No. 15 in the Purple and Gold last season. It wasn’t long before many, including teammate LeBron James, began calling him AR-15.
It’s a combination of his initials and jersey number. But it’s also the name of the semi-automatic weapon that is often used in mass shootings, including recently at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Reaves recently said that he would like a different nickname that has no association with the weapon, via ESPN:
“I don’t condone any gun violence that happens around our country[.] …
“Every time something like that happens, your heart just drops and you feel for the families that were attached to all that.”
The comments come just a few days after 21-year-old Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson asked to no longer be associated with the weapon as well.
Richardson, like Reaves, wears No. 15 on the field for the Gators. But the quarterback told ESPN that he does plan to change his logo, which was previously a scope reticle.
Even though Reaves is not expected to change his number, he is willing to hear new ideas for monikers. More via ESPN:
“I’m always open to new ideas,” he said. “Because there is always another one that might stick and could be better than another one that was previous. So I’m always open to new things and for people to really open up their brains and kind of think of new things for me. That stuff helps us out too in branding situations and stuff like that.”
My immediate favorite for a replacement nickname is Stone Cold Austin Reaves, like the wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin. If that’s too long, Stone Cold works.
As we saw during his game-winner, this is someone who stays cool as a stone when he is under pressure.
