Austin Reaves and the Lakers have been on quite the run in the Western Conference. And now they face Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets in the Conference Finals. Reaves has been a significant part of everything the Purple and Gold have done well this season. And so, as you’d expect, he is getting all the love in the world now. But apparently, Jokic’s former teammate, Austin Rivers has decided the LA star needs to be taken down a peg. So, he recently got together with The Ringer to make quite the hot take regarding a comparison between Reaves and Warriors’ Jordan Poole.
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Poole was beyond disappointing during this past Warriors season. Despite getting paid in the summer, the 23-year-old completely failed to reach even the lowest levels that were expected from him, In fact, he was downright useless anytime the Warriors needed him. And so, when Rivers credited him over the Lakers’ breakout star, it was beyond shocking.
Austin Rivers says Austin Reaves isn’t in the same league as Jordan Poole in terms of skill
Austin Reaves has become a massive part of the Lakers’ success as a scorer. He can make shots from three, but more often than not only uses the threat of it to get to his spots. And from there, his scoring on the shot is already a foregone conclusion.
But apparently, being able to manipulate opposing defenders is still not as good as what Jordan Poole can do. Here is what Austin Rivers told the Ringer during his recent podcast appearance.
“I love his (Austin Reaves’s) talent. His best skill is how aggressive he is as a player. He is aggressive every time he gets the ball… He can do a little bit of everything here and there… His (Austin Reaves’s) skill level is nowhere near Jordan Poole. It’s not even in the same realm… I don’t know if you see the sh*t that Jordan Poole does… if you’re talking skill level to skill level… He (Austin Reaves) is nowhere near Jordan Poole”
Who would you rather have on your team in the long term: Austin Reaves or Jordan Poole?@AustinRivers25 and @paush discuss this and more on the latest #OffGuard. pic.twitter.com/iyHosGe9DZ
— RingerNBA (@ringernba) May 22, 2023
To be fair to Rivers here, when Jordan Poole is making his shots, these words couldn’t be truer. However, if the man can’t make a single one of his shots anymore, what good are all his moves really doing then? And that, in and of itself brings up a massive question about the perception of being ‘skilled’.
Should skill be all the glitz and glamour you can add to your game? Or should it be about pure shot-making, and who can be more efficient and help their team win?
