Talk of the Lakers and the two ‘L’s immediately spring to mind. LeBron James and Luka Doncic are clearly the biggest names on the Lakers roster. But the reason they’re such a dangerous team is that their threat isn’t neutralised simply by taking care of these two. There’s another player who makes his opponents pay.
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Undrafted guard Austin Reaves has become arguably the best third option in the NBA. Reaves doesn’t fit the typical stereotype of a white basketball player. He isn’t a lethal catch-and-shoot player who lacks athleticism. He doesn’t jump out of the gym, but he will make a defender pay for sleeping.
This season, the 6-foot-5 guard took significant strides as a player. He averaged 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game on 46% shooting from the field. Even in games without LeBron active, Reaves not only produced but increased his production.
Reaves played in nine games without the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. In those matchups, he put up 27.9 points, 8.3 assists and 6.6 rebounds, absolutely filling the stat sheet. James has always noticed Reaves’ skills, but he can’t pinpoint the genesis of one aspect of Reaves’ game.
There’s another aspect of Reaves that King James is flummoxed about: his confidence and swagger. Despite having been his teammate for four seasons now, LeBron still has no idea where Reaves developed these traits.
During a recent episode of LeBron and Steve Nash’s Mind The Game podcast, the two discussed the origin of Nash’s swagger. James brought up Reaves in correlation to Nash’s comments. LeBron revealed he is a big fan of the 26-year-old’s swagger but has no idea where it came from.
“There’s no way you learned that in f*****g Arkansas,” James said. “You got that bop. You didn’t learn that in Arkansas.”
Nash provided a different perspective to give LeBron the answer he has been seeking. The two-time MVP is from Victoria, Canada. Unlike Toronto, which has a strong multicultural reputation and a large street basketball scene, Victoria is significantly more reserved.
That didn’t prevent Nash from adding swagger to his game. His confidence and personality on the court grew from emulating the greats who came before him. He raises the possibility that Reaves has done the same thing, resulting in the player he is today.
Whatever the reason, Reaves has turned himself into one of the best players the league has to offer. Alongside Doncic and LeBron, he forms the three-headed monster, i.e. the LA Lakers. With the postseason around the corner, he is set to prove that his regular season play wasn’t a fluke.
