Austin Reaves played a round of golf while on the phone with agents in NBA free agency frenzy
Fresh off re-signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, Austin Reaves finally found some refuge on the golf course this weekend in the American Century Championship.
Even the links had been stressful recently for Reaves, an avid golfer who was consumed by the frenzy of NBA free agency.
As among the most coveted available stars, Reaves said he was “on the phone with my agents probably five, six, seven hours a day” for a week when free agency reached a fever pitch.
“It was kind of annoying because it was interrupting my golf,” Reaves said during an NBC Sports interview in Sunday’s final round. “But I did play one full round with them on the phone, and I just put them on speaker. I’d throw (the phone) on the ground and hit and pick it up and keep talking.”
The 28-year-old from Arkansas is a golf content creator when he’s off the court. Reaves founded the “Hillbilly Bogey” brand with his friend Trent Swaim.
There’s a YouTube channel devoted to “Hillbilly Bogey,” which is a reference to Reaves’ nickname (“Hillbilly Kobe”) as a high school basketball star.
“We just try to have fun with it,” Reaves said of his social media. “We play so much golf that we just wanted to document it.”
Reaves joked that he made so many bogeys the first day of the American Century Championship that he was ready to shed the “Hillbilly Bogey” hat he was sporting.
But he was at least happier with his game now that the madness surrounding his NBA future had quieted down.
“It’s been good,” Reaves said. “I haven’t hit it the way I wanted to all week, but it’s good to be out here. My brother’s on the bag. It’s good to see all the fans and just have fun.”
