There is no doubt that star LeBron James is the center of the Los Angeles Lakers franchise where being the leader of the team, he has developed relationships to the other players with one especially being Austin Reaves. The 26-year old star spoke Saturday during an event in the Philippines where he touched on the relationship himself and James have as they head into the upcoming season with Los Angeles.
It is a luxury to have James be anyone's teammate, Reaves knows that and embraces the relationship they have on the Lakers. Reaves would describe it as being “nothing but love” according to Nicole Ganglani while also adding on that James is “the greatest player ever” which has been a long debate within fans between him and Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan.
“Someone that I looked up to and for LeBron, I mean, in my opinion, he's the greatest player ever,” Reaves said. “And for him to treat me the way that he treats me since day one has been very special for me. It's been nothing but love. I've been able to pick his brain on the stuff that he does to be prepared, take care of his body.”
Reaves confident in Lakers this upcoming season
Last season, Reaves averaged 15.9 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 48.6 percent from the field. Going into his fourth season in the NBA after being undrafted out of Oklahoma in 2021, he has a specific role with the Lakers and as they are going through changes of their own, he would even say to the media that “we have what we need to go compete for a championship.”
“I like where we're at. I think that we have what we need to go compete for a championship,” Reaves said. “You look back at the Denver series last year, and I forget the statistics, but I think we led for like 165 out of the 240 minutes, which is crazy. We got beat 4-1, which you can't even really wrap your mind around.”
Some will look at that statement and pass it off as a boastful player who is too big for their britches, but with a team consisting of James and his dynamic partner in crime in Anthony Davis, the sky could be the limit, even in a packed Western Conference. Now, the Lakers have a new head coach in former player JJ Redick who Reaves calls a “fierce competitor.”
“So I like where we're at. And then obviously getting JJ, as I was talking about, someone that's a fierce competitor,” Reaves said.
At any rate, Los Angeles is looking to improve after a 47-35 record which put them seventh in the West as they were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
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