Before the football community became enthralled with music sensation Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce’s romance, Swift was being linked to another person this summer. After a tweet claimed the two were seen leaving a pub together, there were reports that Swift was seeing Los Angeles Lakers player Austin Reaves.

The speculations gained momentum rapidly, especially since Reaves had just finished a breakout playoff campaign. Reaves’ ascent to fame would have made sense to continue with a collaboration with one of the greatest pop performers of all time, but the reports were untrue and Reaves would set the record straight later in the summer.

But it didn’t stop anyone from joining the party, even a few of Reaves’ Lakers teammates. According to the guard, Reaves just decided to let them play with it after someone brought it up in the team’s group chat, as reported by Melissa Rohlin of FOX Sports:

Reaves told FOX Sports last week that “someone in the team group message at the time sent it just with a bunch of laugh faces.” However, I can’t recall who it was. I don’t even believe I answered it. I said, “You guys get it.” You guys rocked this one.

It was unclear who initially began the notion, but Reaves realized it was simply some lighthearted fun his teammates would be having and decided it was better to just not make a big deal out of it.

It turns out that the tweet was made by a Los Angeles Clippers employee who is a Lakers supporter and that everything started from a burner account, not just any random person:

Everything started on June 5 when a 24-year-old faked a tweet from a burner account claiming to have seen the two at a bar. This individual, however, wasn’t just any sporadic internet troll—rather, it was a LA Clippers staff member.

When FOX Sports revealed to Reaves who began the myth that followed him throughout the summer, he burst out laughing.

He drew out the word “Woooooooow” for a few seconds. That is absurd. That is genuinely humorous.

There are certainly worse things than being rumored to be dating Taylor Swift, one of the biggest stars in the world, when it comes to internet rumors sprouting up about you. If she had started regularly supporting the Lakers, the Crypto.com Arena would have been a veritable zoo, given the attention she is currently receiving at every Chiefs game.

Austin Reaves of the Lakers wants to tell future generations that he and LeBron James won a championship.
Although Reaves and Swift are not intended to be together, the former aims to one day start a family of his own, and the Lakers guard intends to share with his future children his NBA accomplishments, including winning an NBA Championship with his renowned colleagues.

Reaves recently talked about how he hopes to tell his children that he and LeBron James won an NBA Championship one day. The Lakers guard stated unequivocally that taking home a ring is his only objective.