Last season was a revelation for Austin Reaves, and for the Los Angeles Lakers, it was also a revelation: They realized they had more than simply a useful player.
As the year went on, he showed more and more of his ability, and it resulted in him earning a spot in the starting lineup in March, not to mention a very strong showing in the playoffs. It’s normal for young players’ numbers to dip in their first postseason, but Reaves’ numbers actually went up.
A recent profile in The Ringer revealed the game and the moment when Reaves realized LeBron James and the rest of his teammates and coaching staff trusted him to make big decisions and take big shots on the court.
Via The Ringer:
“Reaves thought about how much more he’d be able to grow playing alongside James and (Anthony) Davis,” Mirin Fader wrote about Reaves’ decision to stay with the Lakers in free agency this summer. “He thought about how much head coach Darvin Ham trusted him, and how much faith his teammates also had in him during the playoffs, handing him the ball in clutch situations. On one play, during Game 1 against Memphis, he ran to the corner when James caught an outlet pass. James told him to come back and get the ball. Reaves didn’t understand: Why would James, who could blow past anybody, any time, give up the ball to him? ‘My brain left the game for a second,’ Reaves says. And then he thought: I can’t make him look stupid. I’ve got to make something good happen. Muscle memory took over, and he scored a flurry of baskets.”
One sign of effective leadership is delegating ownership to people who are deserving of a bigger role. Reaves was one of those people in that playoff opener versus the Memphis Grizzlies in April.
With the Lakers clinging to a very small lead in the fourth quarter, Reaves scored 14 points in the period, including four straight buckets in the final 3:29 that sealed a 128-112 victory. That was his viral “I’m him!” moment that announced to the basketball world that he had truly arrived.