News Every Day | 19 April 2024, 20:24

Austin Reaves on potentially being a Laker for life: I want to try and chip into the history

D’Angelo Russell told me in an interview he told you, “You’ll be here a long time.” What are your thoughts on potentially being a Laker for life? Austin Reaves: Going into free agency this year, that was the main thing, which was to get back here (Los Angeles). The fans and organization are great. There’s so much history here. I want to try and chip into the history movement. It’s an unbelievable organization that gave me an opportunity that not a lot of people wanted to do. They took a chance on me and really helped me get my start.
Source: HoopsHype

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Michael Scotto @MikeAScotto
Lakers guard Austin Reaves discussed a wild team travel story, the possibility of being a Laker for life, D’Angelo Russell’s free agency, what he’s learned from LeBron James, why Anthony Davis is his Defensive Player of the Year, and more on @hoopshype. hoopshype.com/lists/austin-r… – 12:07 PM

Mike Trudell @LakersReporter
Austin Reaves on going from the 10 seed to the 7, with the starters now 19-6 together: “The last couple months we’ve been really happy with the way we’re playing. We’ve found some stuff offensively … as a team we’re super exited moving forward.” – 10:32 PM

Khobi Price @khobi_price
Austin Reaves drive-and-kick to D’Angelo Russell for a corner 3; giving the Lakers a 104-100 lead with 50.3 seconds left. – 9:58 PM

Duane Rankin @DuaneRankin
Did Scott Foster just hit Austin Reaves with a tech? #Pelicans #LakeShow – 9:46 PM

Will Guillory @WillGuillory
First possession of the 2nd half and the Pels failed to get matched up on defense, leading to an Austin Reaves 3.
Not ideal. – 8:56 PM

Nate Duncan @NateDuncanNBA
If Austin Reaves is guarded by Herb Jones, just don’t bother running PnR with him. He won’t be able to get to his spots. – 7:53 PM

Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
Lakers’ starters vs. New Orleans:
D’Angelo Russell
Austin Reaves
Rui Hachimura
LeBron James
Anthony Davis
Record as starters: 18-6 – 7:04 PM

More on this storyline

What are some funny or wild travel stories with the Lakers? Austin Reaves: The craziest one to me was when we were in Portland, and it was 20 or 30 minutes before we were leaving to go to the game, and the fire alarm started to go off. Fire alarms occasionally go off. They come over the intercom, and they turn them off quickly, but these kept going off. I was like, I didn’t want to be stuck in a burning building, so I got down the stairs and walked out. Everybody else in the building was going out, too. We went out the front, and our bus was leaving from the back from where our meal room was at the time. I think they finally turned the alarm off, but the security for the hotel wouldn’t let me go back there. It’s like how I was talking about before how I fit in with the regular crowd. As an NBA player, how do you travel privately during the offseason when booking hotels and flights? Austin Reaves: For me, it’s not that hard because I kind of look like an average person. I can get around pretty well, especially if I’m wearing a hat or a hoodie. I don’t have to go too incognito, but it’s getting more difficult. Flying doesn’t bother me. With hotels, I’ve traveled spontaneously and gotten regular rooms. I came out to LA for the US Open on a last-minute kind of thing with my mom and my girlfriend, and we just got a place at the Renaissance by the hotel. It was great. For me, it’s not that difficult. -via HoopsHype / April 19, 2024

Some people said maybe the Lakers should lose and avoid the Nuggets. What did you think of that suggestion and facing the defending champs? Austin Reaves: There’s definitely a chip on our shoulder. They’ve beaten us I don’t know how many times in a row, and they put us out of the playoffs last year. There’s definitely a chip on our shoulder to go in and compete at the highest level and prove everybody wrong, basically. There were all these people talking about losing the Play-In game to end up playing the other game to get the eighth seed to play Oklahoma City. That was never even spoken about in our locker room. We wanted to make sure that we got into the playoffs first of all, and more than likely, you’re going to see them at some point anyway, so I’d assume you’ve got to beat them at some point anyway. That’s our main focus. Go out and compete at a high level and try to win this thing. -via HoopsHype / April 19, 2024

What have you thought of this season for Anthony Davis? Austin Reaves: He’s definitely lost in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation. In my opinion, he’s the best defender in the league. I can factually say my side of the story, but then you could look at the numbers of when he’s on the court and when he’s off the court with our unit and see the differences defensively for us. In my opinion, he’s the Defensive Player of the Year. He gets lost in that conversation. I don’t know for what reason. He played the most games he’s played in his career this year at 76. What we do wouldn’t work without him at all. He changes the game defensively so much. Offensively, every big man guarding him is always worried about him. When me and D’Angelo come off pick-and-rolls, we have more space and opportunity to create for ourselves and others because if I were another coach, my game plan would be not to let Davis catch the ball. What he does for us, I don’t think, gets talked about enough. -via HoopsHype / April 19, 2024