Mikal Bridges praised USA basketball teammate and Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves and insisted he should be respected for his game at this time. Via the Los Angeles Times:

“This ain't no underdog s— no more,” Bridges said. “He's here.”

Reaves, who went undrafted in 2021, has carved a big role for the Los Angeles Lakers in each of the last two seasons. He averaged 13.0 points on 51.9 percent shooting (38.3 percent from 3-point range), 3.4 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 64 games in 2022-23 for the Lakers, who advanced to the Western Conference Finals. His postseason was only better, as he averaged 16.9 points on 46.4 percent shooting (44.3 percent from 3-point range), 4.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game.

Reaves was a restricted free agent this summer and likely fielded interest from several teams. However, he chose to re-sign with the Lakers on a four-year, $53,827,872 deal.

USA basketball has had three exhibition games prior to the FIBA World Cup this summer. Reaves has averaged 10 points per game off the bench.

Bridges stood out last season with the Brooklyn Nets after he was traded to the team for Kevin Durant. He has NBA Finals experience and played in the same Pacific division as Reaves with the Phoenix Suns.

Reaves' performances have garnered respect from the Lakers' faithful, including superstar forward LeBron James, who said he knew Reaves would turn into a very good player.

“It's not surprising to me,” James said. “I knew from the first practice that we had when we grabbed him that it wasn't going to be a two-way player for long…I know the type of players that fit with my game, and I knew Austin would be that.”