Austin Reaves shares eye-opening admission about LeBron James chemistry
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LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers shook off the bitter taste of their disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, with a dominant, 111-88 win over the Washington Wizards that had head coach JJ Redick remarking that the Lakers are trending in the right direction. During the Lakers' win, Austin Reaves found LeBron James for a monster alley-oop that resulted in an and-one for James.
The poster dunk drew a humorous reaction from Bronny James on the bench, and following the game, Austin Reaves spoke about the continued development of his on-court chemistry with LeBron James that dates back to when Reaves first joined the Lakers.
"I've said it ever since I got here, he was the first person I wanted to create a relationship with, on the court, off the court. . .Just kind of having that feel as if, if I were to go play basketball with my high school teammates, I think you would still have that chemistry because you played so many games together," Reaves said. "Just having that experience playing alongside one another for, going on four years now, I kind of understand where he wants the ball and it's kind of easier to just throw it in the air and he goes and gets it."
The alley-oop play was just one of a couple in recent games that Reaves has thrown to James. During the Lakers' win against the Brooklyn Nets last Friday, Reaves found himself running the break alongside James. Rather than try to score himself, he threw the ball up the 40-year-old who threw down a thunderous dunk.
The dunk against the Wizards had a little extra to it considering James not only dunked on Jonas Valanciunas, but he drew the foul as well. After the game, Reaves also spoke about how the play transpired and how he actually wasn't sure it would work.
"I got an offensive rebound, I might have fouled to get the offensive rebound but they didn't call it. And I seen Bron full head of steam running down the lane," Reaves said. "When I threw it, I did not see Valanciunas there, so when I threw it, I turned and looked and was like 'aw s**t.' And then he dunked it and I was like okay it all worked out."
Austin Reaves' continued development with Lakers
Now in his fourth season with the Lakers, Reaves has solidified himself as the team's starting point guard. That move was made clear when Redick opted to move D'Angelo Russell to the bench earlier this season, and then stamped as official when the Lakers traded Russell to the Brooklyn Nets.
Since taking on a larger role with the ball in his hands more often, Reaves has responded with a few huge games where he's reached double digits in assists. He's also had a couple of clunkers as he continues to adjust to this new role with a higher usage.
Reaves has appeared in 36 games for the Lakers, at just under 35 minutes per game. He's been averaging a career-high 18.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 44 percent shooting from the field, 36.2 percent shooting from the three-point line and 84.1 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
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