“Malik look 40 and AR15 looks 12 years old" - NBA fans react to Austin Reaves & Malik Monk's throwback high school rivalry pic

Former LA Lakers teammates Austin Reaves and Malik Monk were once rivals in the high school basketball circuit. The Lakers guard defeated the Sacramento Kings guard in a state championship game.

Reaves' Cedar Ridge High School ended East Poinsett County High School's three-year reign in the 2013 Arkansas 2A state championship final.

On Sunday, their championship duel from over a decade ago resurfaced in social media as a newspaper photo of a teenage Reaves guarding Monk caught fans' attention.

Fans then pointed out how the NBA players looked in high school.

“Why does Malik look 40?,” a fan said.

“Malik look 40 and AR15 looks 12 years old 😂,” another fan wrote.

Meanwhile, some fans reminisced about when the two shared the court with the Lakers. Other fans also took pride in them growing up in the Arkansas basketball circuit.

“Mailk monk would come to are local gyms when he was in his senior year and would go against the adults and he was doing 360 dunks and dunking all over people fade away threes in people faces I grew up close by both of them,” one fan said.

“Only if we still had these two together man,” another fan said.

“I miss Monk on the Lakers he was so good for us😭,” another fan wrote.

The two Arkansas natives faced each other on Saturday, with Reaves' Lakers taking down Monk's Kings 132-122. Reaves put up an impressive performance with 26 points and 16 assists, while Monk had 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

Austin Reaves and Malik Monk took pride in their Arkansas roots

When they were still teammates in LA, Austin Reaves and Malik Monk shared how proud they were of making it in the NBA. In an interview with Orange County Register's Kyle Goon in 2021, the two looked back at their Arkansas roots.

“It’s not just that we both made it to the NBA. It’s that we play for the biggest organization ever to play the game, Monk said. “I don’t think anything like this will ever happen again.”

“It’s just looking back and seeing where we come from," Reaves said. "We were even talking about it yesterday, two kids from small towns in Arkansas playing for the Lakers, and playing together at points during the game, reminiscing on those times and seeing how it’s special now.”

Monk played only one year with the Lakers before spending the next three seasons with the Kings, mostly off the bench. Meanwhile, Reaves has become a starter with the Lakers.