Budding Lakers star Austin Reaves eats pineapples, fish, and protein drinks to deal with the NBA grind, but admits he still can’t ever beat LeBron James to the gym
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One of the bright spots over the last two seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers has been the development of second-year guard Austin Reaves.
Undrafted out of Oklahoma and signed as a free agent last year, Reaves was thrown into the fire on a roster that faced myriad injuries and a lack of depth. And while his crowning moment of his rookie season may have been his star turn as an accessory to a LeBron James meme, Reaves became a steady contributor. That has continued into his second season; his scoring, assists, and shooting percentage have all gone up, and his play quickly earned the trust of first-year head coach Darvin Ham.
Before being sidelined for a month with a hamstring injury, Reaves said his body feels way better than it did at this point during his rookie season. A significant part of any rookie’s acclimation to the league is navigating the grind and travel of an 82-game season.
“You play a game every other night basically and if it’s not every other night, you’re playing every third night,” Reaves said. “A lot of people from the outside looking in don’t understand the time that everyone in professional sports dedicates to their body and all the time in ice baths, the training room getting stretched, or deep-tissue massages. It’s an everyday thing.”
Paying more attention to what he puts in his body has become a serious focus for Reaves, who is also a brand ambassador of OWYN (Only What You Need), a vegan protein shake brand. Recently, he and Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields matched donations from OWYN up to $100,000 to the Future Starts Now campaign from FARE, a non-profit engaged in food allergy research, education, and advocacy.
While he will treat himself here and there, Reaves tries to avoid fried foods or anything that’s been heavily processed. Given how many calories he burns daily in season, his dietary focus is high protein, heavy on complex carbs and fruits, with protein drinks throughout the day. His favorite snacks are pineapple and grapes, with strawberries not too far behind.
On a recent off day, he spoke to Insider about what a typical day of eating looks like for him. He started his morning off with an OWYN shake before breakfast, which consisted of eggs, turkey bacon, and a banana, before he headed to the golf course. After his round was finished, lunch was fish, rice, and some vegetables. For dinner, he dined on chicken alfredo.
In college, Reaves remembers simply helping himself to whatever was available. But he quickly learned that form of eating isn’t sustainable at the next level and he had to make changes.
“I started loving roasted veggies and high-quality protein,” he says. “Dark and light meat chicken, because I need the fat, and brown rice with sweet potato are some of my favorites.
“It wasn’t until I entered the NBA that I realized I actually had to eat some veggies,” he laughed. “Now that I eat them, I love them.
“Now, because I want to sustain what I’m doing and have a long career, I know my body is an investment,” Reaves continued. “I really try to watch what I put in it. I fall short every now and then, but it’s mostly a lot of fruits, vegetables, and clean foods.”
It would be hard to share a locker room with LeBron James and fail to observe the attention and detail that goes into everything the Lakers superstar does to keep his body healthy in Year 20. Reaves recalled towards the tail end of last season, he would make it a game with himself to beat James to the gym before games, sometimes arriving up to five hours early. He never really won; James would already be in the arena when Reaves arrived, and in the middle of training or doing some work on his body.
“He’s one of one, and I’m very real with myself,” Reaves said. “I’ll never be him as far as his build and what he’s been able to sustain. It’s little things like where I just try to take it for myself and implement it into my routine. His support has been incredible. Being able to ask questions and get perspective from arguably the smartest hooper ever has been huge for me. I’m just thankful to be able to learn and watch one of the greatest to ever do it.”