Professional athletes are creatures of habit, but sometimes getting out of their routine is just what they need to play their best. Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves appeared on The Backyard, his friend but now former teammate D’Angelo Russell’s podcast, and among the topics they discussed was how being disrupted from doing the same old, same old can lead to playing great.
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Reaves recalled an incident before a game where he was seeking treatment at the trainer’s table, but his teammate Dalton Knecht was already there. Knecht’s treatment ended up running longer than anticipated, so by the time he was finished, there wasn’t enough time for Reaves to get what he was looking for. When the trainer asked if he wanted a different treatment, Reaves responded, “Nah, I’m good bro.”
Russell pointed out that right after that, Reaves went out and had his best game.
“Y’all don’t understand, bro. There’s so many f***** games, you do your routine, you lock the f*** in, you do all that. Soon as you don’t do what you’ve been accustomed to doing, you play your best game. You know what I mean? You just get off of thinking about what you usually think about, what you usually gotta do. If something throws it off, you’re just like, ‘What’s up, let’s get it. Whatever it is, I’m gonna find it.’ And that gives you extra energy and you end up playing your best game. Every time it works like that, bro.”
D’Angelo Russell’s Nets debut proves he was telling the truth
This podcast was bittersweet because it was Russell’s last as a Laker. This past Sunday he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets along with Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. This is Russell’s second tour of duty with the team, and he immediately showed what he was talking about by having arguably his best game of the season.
It can’t be easy having to adjust to a new team on the other side of the country, and that’s to say nothing of the psychological impact of being traded. Nevertheless, Russell responded in his Nets debut on Wednesday by scoring 22 points and dishing out eight assists on a season-best 9-13 shooting, proving that getting out of your routine really does make you play your best game.
Reaves also proved Russell’s theorem by playing his best individual game of the season. Playing without Russell for the first time all year, Reaves tied his career high with 35 points against the NBA-leading Cavs. He nearly put up a triple-double by also contributing 9 rebounds and 10 assists.
We’ll have to see if Russell and Reaves are able to continue their strong play as they get used to their new situations. If not, maybe they’ll need another shake-up to get back on track.
