Laker Austin Reaves' New Shoe Deal With Chinese Brand Serves As Perfect Look At NBA's Hypocrisy
The NBA encourages its players to be outspoken about their political leanings. Naturally, players make fools of themselves whenever they take up the offer.
Stepping up to wear the political DUNCE cap was undrafted Lakers sensation, Austin Reaves.
Austin Reaves, #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers, looks on before the game against the Denver Nuggets during Game 2 of the 2023 NBA Playoffs Western Conference Finals on May 18, 2023 at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
Austin Reaves' Gun Comments Misfire A Year Later
Reaves is enjoying a star-making year and solidified his ascending celebrity with a new shoe deal this offseason.
The 24-year-old signed his deal with Chinese shoe company Rigorer, and the hypocrisy worsens when you see the shoe's design.
Last season, Austin Reaves was dubbed "AR-15" for his adept shot-making and "Hillbilly Kobe," a fairly lazy nomenclature.
"AR-15 can shoot!" was the message surrounding Reaves' improved play.
The Los Angeles Laker quickly shut down using the nickname over its association with "gun violence" in America.
Reaves took a bite off Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich's radical gun reform rhetoric, frequently championed by the NBA — a plaything for the CCP.
“I don’t condone any gun violence that happens around our country,” Reaves said to ESPN in July 2022. “But you can’t really control what people give you. I mean, I didn’t come out and say my name was that.”
No one told Austin Reaves to embrace that script; he did so of his own volition.
Now looking to promote the release of his "AR1 Rigorer" shoe, Reaves will proudly be wearing a shoe with a large crosshair in the thick of the design.
AR1 Rigorer (via Rigorer)
NBA Players Continue To Fold ... At The Right Price
Does that make much sense based on Reaves' previous discomfort with being associated with guns? Of course not.
Reaves' shoe deal isn't inherently wrong: the young baller is profiting off his impressive season. He averaged 16.9 points in the playoffs, which elevated LA's offense until they got punched in the mouth by Denver in the Western Conference Finals.
If Reaves' anti-gun messaging isn't strong at its core, perhaps it's truly all about the Benjamins (i.e., cash money baby!)
How much did it take for Austin Reaves to shut up and dribble? Approximately $1 million per year from his shoe deal with Rigorer.
NBA Players' Platforms Aren't Very Convincing
What Kylie Irving taught us days before Reaves' deal is that money can dictate NBA players' platforms.
After much turmoil over his religious platform and identity as a Muslim, Kyrie Irving signed his principles over to Chinese sports apparently company, Anta, as his newest sponsorship after getting dumped by Nike.
The atrocities of Xinjiang, an infamous labor camp in China detaining Uyghur Muslims, continue to be ignored by the NBA and its players.
Does the NBA have any real control over its best talents compared to China's fiscal influence? Seems like it does not.
On domestic soil, NBA players, coaches and personnel will freely point out their problems with America.
When it comes to holding China accountable, their platform for human rights started getting muffled underneath a fat paycheck.
Making matters more grim, NBA has blackballed players for speaking up against China. Enes Kanter Freedom continues to be the prominent activist that seemingly got banned by the NBA for speaking up against China's human rights violations.
And We Already Know The CCP Controls the NBA ...
In 2019, the NBA gave former 76ers exec Daryl Morey an earful for supporting Hong Kong protests. The people of HK fighting for sovereignty are enemies of the CCP.
Pressure from the Chinese market, contributing nearly half a billion in revenue annually, forced the NBA's hand concerning Morey's pro-HK tweet.
Austin Reaves cherry-picked his nickname: detesting the subtext of the "AR-15" title but not having the common sense to find issues with "Hillbilly Kobe" being predicated on the color of his skin as a white man. He denounced "HBK" as a nickname but solely for its tie to Kobe Bryant, not wanting to besmirch the legend's name.
All of the political posturings that continue to come out of players' mouths across different leagues fail to convert independently-minded audiences that understand the right amount of money can shut an athlete up.
But hey ... it was worth a shot ... wasn't it, AR-15?