Who Is Austin Reaves' Girlfriend? He and Jenna Barber Were High School Sweethearts
Despite a viral rumor the Laker was spotted with Taylor Swift, he's in a long-term relationship.
When he's on the court, Austin Reaves is supported by his Los Angeles Lakers teammates, including LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Off the court, the 25-year-old shooting guard is supported by his partner of a decade, Jenna Barber. Reaves and Barber were high school sweethearts who continued their relationship through Reaves' college basketball career and then to Los Angeles when he signed with the Lakers. The NBA star tends to be pretty private when it comes to his relationship with Barber, but the couple are undoubtedly tight. Read on to learn more about Reaves, his girlfriend, and their romance.
RELATED: Who Is Jon Rahm's Wife? Kelley Cahill Is Also an Athlete.
Who is Austin Reaves dating?
Jenna Barber is 23 and grew up in Newark, Arkansas, the same small town Reaves is from. She has a twin sister, Jordan Wheeler, and a younger sister, Jaden Barber. She and Reaves both attended Cedar Ridge High School, and according to The New York Post, have been dating since 2014, meaning that they're about to celebrate their 10-year anniversary—if they haven't already. Neither Reaves nor Barber has publicly talked about how or when they started seeing each other, though numerous social media posts confirm that they're indeed together and have been for a while.
RELATED: Sports Radio Host Fired After "Sexist" Comments About TV Reporter.
Where did Jenna Barber go to college?
When Reaves, who is a couple of years older than Barber, graduated high school, he initially attended Wichita State before transferring to the University of Oklahoma after his sophomore season. His girlfriend initially went to the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville. She graduated magna cum laude in 2020 with an associate degree in science. After that, Barber began studying communication sciences and disorders at the University of Arkansas, where she was a member of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, as evidenced by several Facebook posts featuring her sorority sisters. She graduated from that school in 2022.
According to Barber's Facebook account, she's currently enrolled in the Logan College of Chiropractic, which offers online courses.
What does Jenna Barber do?
As evidenced by her enrollment in chiropractic school, Barber is seemingly pursuing a career in medicine. As reported by People, prior to attending the University of Arkansas, she worked at a pharmacy in her hometown. She shared a post on social media marking appeared to be her last day working there in 2020, writing that she had "the sweetest work family" and would "miss [them] all."
Jenna Barber supports Austin Reaves at his games.
Reaves and Barber made their relationship work while they were both in college despite being long-distance, and now, she supports him during his games every chance she gets. She has been a regular in the crowds at the Crypto.com Arena where the Lakers play. Reaves signed with the Lakers in 2021 after initially going undrafted, and he ended up being one of the team's superstar players following a breakout rookie season.
Barber has posted lots of photos of her cheering on Reaves. In January 2023, she wrote, "some of my favorite things: lakers basketball, traveling, good company, & #15 🤩💛" in a post accompanying several shots of her in the stands and on the court.
During the playoffs last year, Barber was there when the Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Semifinals. She posted pictures from the game, where she was watching alongside Reaves' mother, Nicole Wilkett—herself a former college basketball star.
In the summer of 2023, Barber went abroad with Reaves when he was one of the players selected to play on the U.S National Team for the FIBA Basketball World Cup. Photos she posted to Facebook show the pair enjoying a vacation in addition to the tournament.
RELATED: The 10 Best U.S. Cities to Visit for Sports Fanatics.
Jenna Barber and Austin Reaves are not married or engaged—yet.
Although Barber and Reaves have been dating for a decade, they are not engaged or married, and they do not have any children. They are still in their early and mid-twenties and just starting out in their respective careers. Presumably, it will be a big story for sports fans when and if the two decide to tie the knot.
Jenna Barber and Austin Reaves are both on social media.
Barber posts to her Facebook account fairly frequently, making it the place where the couple are the most publicly visible. She also seems to be interested in photography and has an gallery page on the photography site, VSCO. Her Instagram account is private, however, and while Reaves does have a public Instagram account, it's much more focused on his basketball career and shoe line than his personal life.
There was a rumor that Austin Reaves was dating Taylor Swift.
In September of last year, there was a wild rumor that Reaves was involved with Taylor Swift. The speculation that one of the biggest rising stars in sports was dating the biggest pop star in the world went viral, despite his long relationship with Barber. The gossip reached such a fervor that Reaves' teammates were joking with him about it.
Of course, it was 100 percent untrue. As Fox Sports reported, it all started when a social media staffer for Los Angeles' other NBA team, the Clippers, posted a joke tweet to his alternate account that Reaves and Swift had been seen together at a bar. While some fans believed the fake tip, it was not taken seriously by Reaves or Barber.
"I just started laughing," Reaves told Fox Sports, recalling how one of his teammates sent the tweet in a group chat with "a bunch of laugh faces." He continue, "I was playing cards with my brother, my best friend, and my girlfriend, actually. I said something [about it] and she looked at me and was like, 'Yeah, I've seen that.'"
"I was like, 'Yeah, one night when you were asleep I just snuck away and went to a bar," Reaves continued. Barber, who frequently goes golfing with her boyfriend, indicated that she knew from the context of the post that it wasn't even likely for Reaves to be in a bar.
"She obviously laughed about it and said, 'If it were at a golf course, I would've been a little more worried,'" the player said.
