Los Angeles Lakers star Austin Reaves had an impressive game on Monday night, scoring 22 points in a victory against the Utah Jazz. However, he faced an unexpected challenge during a postgame vocabulary test when a reporter asked, “Austin, just as a basketball aficionado, was there a part of …”
“A what?” Reaves responded, genuinely confused. The reporter clarified, “Helping your vocab tonight, ‘aficionado.’” To which Reaves asked, “What’s that?” The reporter explained, “A fan,” with Jaxson Hayes, Reaves’ teammate sitting nearby, chiming in with a chuckle, “Big fan.” “Someone who appreciates the game of basketball,” the reporter added. Reaves, surprised, replied, “I didn’t know that. Thank you.”
Austin Reaves just learned the word aficionado lol
Shoutout @mcten! pic.twitter.com/BFjlmTZJE5
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) February 11, 2025
The reporter then shifted the conversation to Reaves’ new teammate Luka Dončić, whose recent acquisition in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks surprised the sports world. Dončić made his Lakers debut on Monday night. “Yeah, I’m a big fan,” Reaves said but added, “I don’t know what word you just said.”
Beyond expanding his vocabulary, Reaves has been stepping up this season, emerging as a key player for the Lakers and potentially forming a new-look Big 3 alongside James and Dončić. In their absence during a recent game against the Pacers, Reaves scored a career-high 45 points, leading to a surprising victory. He is currently averaging a career-best 19.2 points per game this season.
This situation recalls a few years back when a reporter stumped then-Golden State Warriors teammates Steph Curry and Kevin Durant with the word “kerfuffle.” Curry humorously remarked, “That is a word right there.”
Screaming at this part pic.twitter.com/uAvgLkTLMx
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) May 7, 2017
