After being a fun underdog story early in his career, Austin Reaves has established himself as a bona fide star in the league.
What was once a joke about the Lakers having a Big 3 with LeBron James, Anthony
Davis and Reaves has become a fact as the franchise transitions into the Luka Dončić era. Any questions about whether he belonged in that grouping coming into the season have quickly been brushed aside by his performances over the opening week, too.
But head coach JJ Redick wasn’t someone who needed convincing. Speaking prior to Monday’s game, Redick detailed some of the conversations he had with Reaves during the summer in which he empowered him to take ownership of the team.
“I think the biggest thing was him taking a step forward as a leader,” Redick said, “and recognizing that it’s as much his team as it is LeBron’s team or Luka’s team and acknowledging that he does have innate natural leadership skills and being able to tap into those more consistently. I told him he’s out of excuses. ‘You’re no longer the undrafted guy who’s a young player who’s unproven. You’re one of the guys now.’
Reaves has always been a confident player, but there has to be a boost that comes along with the coach telling you that you are on the level of arguably the greatest player of all-time and one of the best current players in the game.
Again, Reaves spent the opening week of the season showing that to be the case, too. On Sunday, he poured in 51 points with 11 rebounds and nine assists, a remarkable stat line that helped the Lakers pick up the win. While they did not earn a victory on Monday, it wasn’t because of Reaves, who tallied 41 points.
After the game, Redick talked about a moment from the game that showed Reaves stepping up as a vocal leader with Luka and LeBron sidelined.
“Just a great example of it,” Redick said, “I challenged that call on the fourth…We just set up a pretty simple baseline out-of-bounds play if that call had gotten overturned, 1.3 [seconds] on the clock and he’s coming out of time out, ‘DK, work your way under, I’ll throw the lob over the top.’ It’s simple stuff like that, but I’m seeing it again and again whether that’s on defense, offense.
“He’s been great in huddles. I mean yesterday [against Sacramento], just as connected as our huddles have been, player to player, during timeouts.”
Leadership isn’t shown in having some sort of motivational speech or a big, demonstrative action on the court. Instead, Reaves is doing it in huddles, during practices and in locker rooms, which is making an impact. As much of a feel-good story as Reaves’ career has been, he’s someone at this point in his career who has seen a lot and been through a lot, which means he has knowledge to share.
“It’s just trying to step up and speak about what I see,” Reaves said. “I feel like I have a decent feel and IQ for the game. Kind of having that coach on the court when things get tough to kind of try to push through those moments I think will be big for us. Obviously, when we get [Luka and LeBron] back, they’re two of the best players who have played the game and they both see the game at a very high level as well.”
This is one of the next steps Austin needed to make in his game. He has all the skills to be one of the best players on the floor, but now he’s focusing on making sure he brings his teammates with him.
Eventually, LeBron will no longer be on the roster and his leadership will be gone with him. Fortunately, Reaves is showing a willingness and ability to eventually fill that void.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
