| Josh Reaves | |
| Position: | Shooting guard |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 4 |
| Weight Lb: | 214 |
| League: | NBA G League |
| Team: | Rio Grande Valley Vipers |
| Number: | 23 |
| Birth Date: | 4 June 1997 |
| Birth Place: | Fairfax, Virginia, U.S. |
| Nationality: | American / Bolivian |
| High School: |
|
| College: | Penn State (2015–2019) |
| Draft Year: | 2019 |
| Career Start: | 2019 |
| Team1: | Dallas Mavericks |
| Years2: | 2019–2020 |
| Team2: | →Texas Legends |
| Years3: | 2021 |
| Team3: | Rio Grande Valley Vipers |
| Years4: | 2021–2022 |
| Team4: | Beşiktaş Icrypex |
| Years5: | 2022 |
| Team5: | Tofaş |
| Years6: | 2022–present |
| Team6: | Rio Grande Valley Vipers |
| Highlights: | |
Joshua Alexander Reaves (born June 4, 1997) is a Bolivian-American professional basketball player for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League. He played college basketball at Penn State.
Reaves was born and grew up in Fairfax, Virginia. He and his older brother were raised in a single parent household by his Bolivian-born[1] mother, Liset Bravo Reaves, after his father died when he was six years old. He initially attended Middleburg Academy with Mo Alie-Cox, later transferring to Paul VI Catholic High School, where he played both basketball and soccer.[2] As a junior, Reaves was named team captain and averaged 12.6 points per game and was named All-Washington Metro Area as the Panthers won the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, VISAA Division I State championship, and the Alhambra Catholic Invitational. Reaves transferred to Oak Hill Academy before his senior year.[3] Ranked the 74th-best recruit in the nation and second in state by ESPN.com, Reaves committed to play college basketball at Penn State over offers from Temple, Villanova, Maryland, VCU and Georgetown.[4] [5] He was named Oak Hill's captain as the team went 47–1 and was ranked seventh nationally by MaxPreps in his only season.[6]
Reaves played four seasons as a member of the Penn State Nittany Lions. He started 20 games as a freshman and appeared in six more off the bench, despite missing time due to a bout with Mononucleosis, averaging 6.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 0.9 blocks.[7] [8] As a sophomore, Reaves averaged 7.7 points and four rebounds per game while leading the Big Ten with 2.14 steals per game (16th-best in the nation).[9] In his junior season, Reaves averaged 10.6 points, 5.1 reboundsand 3.2 assists per game and again led the Big Ten with 2.18 steals per game and was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team.[10] He was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, All-Defensive Team, and honorable mention all-conference as a senior after averaging 10.6 points, five rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.0 blocks per game and leading the Big Ten for the third straight season with 2.5 steals per game.[11] Reaves finished his collegiate career with 1,079 career points, 540 rebounds, 310 assists and 92 shots blocked and set the school record with 250 steals.[12] Following the end of his senior season, Reaves was invited to play in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, where he was named to the All-Tournament team.[13]
After going unselected in the 2019 NBA draft, Reaves was named to the Dallas Mavericks Summer League roster and averaged 12.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.2 steals and one block per game over five games.[14] Reaves signed a two-way contract with the Mavericks on July 29, 2019.[15] Reaves made his NBA debut on January 2, 2020, playing the final minute of the 123–111 win against the Brooklyn Nets.[16] On August 10, in a 122–114 victory against the Utah Jazz, Reaves made his first career field goal scoring a layup on a backdoor cut,[17] and also had his first career rebound and assist; he finished the game with 4 points on 2 of 4 shooting from the field, 1 rebound, and 3 assists in 14 minutes of playing time.[18]
On December 19, 2020, Reaves signed with the Houston Rockets, but was waived on the same day[19] and on January 18, 2021, he signed with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.[20] Reaves played in each of the Vipers' 15 games in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, averaging 12 points, 2.7 assists, and 4.4 rebounds per game.[21] Reaves scored 7 points in 28 minutes in the Vipers' 110-81 G League Quarterfinal loss to the Santa Cruz Warriors.[22]
On July 5, 2021, Reaves signed with Beşiktaş Icrypex of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) in Turkey.[23] Reaves played in 23 games for Beşiktaş, averaging 5.0 points, 1.3 assists, and 2.1 rebounds per game.[24] Beşiktaş went 15-15 and failed to qualify for the BSL playoffs.[25]
On September 13, 2022, Reaves signed with Tofaş of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL).[26] On October 26, Tofaş announced that it had parted ways with Reaves by mutual agreement.[27] Reaves did not appear in any league games for Tofaş.[28]
On November 3, 2022, Reaves was named to the opening night roster for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.[29] Reaves played in 14 games for the Vipers in the 2022-23 regular season, averaging 7.4 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.9 rebounds per game. He played in all five of the team's playoff games, including a total of 9 points in the G-League Finals, which the Vipers lost in two games to the Delaware Blue Coats.[30]
Reaves plays for the Bolivian national team where he has been the key player.[31]
At the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification (Americas), he led Bolivia in points, assists, steals and blocks.[32]
|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Dallas| 4 || 0 || 7.0 || .333 || .000 || 1.000 || .8 || .8 || 0 || 0 || 2.0|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 4 || 0 || 7.0 || .333 || .000 || 1.000 || .8 || .8 || 0 || 0 || 2.0
|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2020| style="text-align:left;"| Dallas| 2 || 0 || 4.5 || .333 || .000 || 1.000 || 1.0 || .5 || .0 || .5 || 2.0|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 2 || 0 || 4.5 || .333 || .000 || 1.000 || 1.0 || .5 || .0 || .5 || 2.0
|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2015–16| style="text-align:left;"| Penn State| 27|| 20 || 23.0 || .375 || .077 || .756 || 3.6 || 1.9 || 1.3 || .9 || 6.1|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2016–17| style="text-align:left;"| Penn State| 28 || 23 || 27.1 || .448 || .322 || .708 || 4.0 || 2.1 || 2.1 || .8 || 7.7|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2017–18| style="text-align:left;"| Penn State| 34 || 32 || 30.8 || .487|| .377 || .707 || 5.1 || 3.1 || 2.2 || .5 || 10.6|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2018–19| style="text-align:left;"| Penn State| 32 || 32 || 33.0 || .426|| .356 || .656 || 5.0 || 2.9 || 2.5|| 1.0 || 10.6|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 121|| 107 || 28.8 || .438 || .324 || .702 || 4.5 || 2.6 || 2.1 || .8 || 8.9
Reaves has dual American and Bolivian citizenship due to his mother being from Bolivia. His uncle played soccer professionally. He is the first Bolivian to play in the NBA. His older brother, Michael, played college football at Shepherd University.[13]