Jenna Barber, Austin Reaves’ girlfriend, is enjoying the team’s playoff run.
Barber was overjoyed when the Lakers established a 3-1 lead against the Warriors on their path to defeating the reigning champions in the second round of the playoffs.
“3-1 baby!!!! “Such a fun chapter in life,” she said last week in a Facebook post that included photographs of the joyous scene at Crypto.com Arena during the Western Conference semifinals.
Barber wore a Lakers letterman jacket and Jordan brand sneakers to the game with Reaves’ mother, Nicole Wilkett.
The couple was all smiles as they ate purple and gold cupcakes in front of an illuminated Lakers sign.
Reaves and Barber, who are both from Newark, Arkansas and went to Cedar Ridge High School, have supposedly been dating since 2014.
Barber graduated from the University of Arkansas in December and will be 22 in December, according to her Facebook page, where she has worked at NewarkRx drugstore since August 2019.
She was also a member of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority.
Barber, who has a twin sister Jordan, appears to be devoted to her family, which she frequently mentions on Facebook.
It’s uncertain whether Barber will be in Denver for Game 1 of the Western Conference playoffs on Tuesday, when Reaves resumes his first-ever NBA postseason journey.
During the Lakers’ first-round playoff series against the Grizzlies, the 24-year-old guard was hailed a hero.
Reaves, who signed a two-way contract with the Lakers as an undrafted free agent in 2021, scored 23 points in Game 1 against the Grizzlies.
He scored nine consecutive points in the fourth quarter and was seen in a now-viral video exclaiming “I’m him” on the court while pointing to himself.
After his first professional playoff game, Lakers superstar LeBron James praised Reaves.
“It’s not surprising to me,” James said after the first game of the Grizzlies series. “I knew from the first practice that he wouldn’t be a two-way player for long.”
“… I’ve been around the game long enough to know excellent basketball IQ players and the type of players who fit my game, and I knew Austin [Reaves] was one of them right immediately.”
In March, Reaves acquired the hero moniker after recording his first double-double of the season with 25 points and 11 assists in a win over the Suns.
In September, he agreed to terms with the Lakers on a conventional contract.
The second-year player, who will be a restricted free agent in the offseason, has been a decent role player for the Lakers, who began the season 2-10.
They’re on the verge of returning to the NBA Finals for the first time since winning it all in the 2020 NBA bubble season.
Beginning Tuesday at 8:30 p.m., the Lakers will face the Nuggets in the Western Conference finals.