LeBron James and Austin Reaves have formed a special bond as teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers, but the latter wasn’t always so fond of the former. In an interview with Taylor Geas, Reaves revealed he was frustrated by how hard James was on him during his rookie season but later realized it was because he believed in him.
“I’ll give Bron credit. Ever since day one, I remember my rookie year, he was on my a** for a two-week stretch, and I was getting frustrated,” Reaves said. “I would mess up in games, and he would critique me a lot. I got real frustrated because I felt like he just kept coming after me.
“Kept coming after me. But not in a bad way—he just wanted me to be better,” Reaves continued. “I went to (assistant coach) Phil Handy, and I was like, ‘He needs to give me a break, I’m still learning.’ And he was like, ‘The only reason he’s on you like that is because he believes in you.'”
It speaks to James’ eye for talent that he saw something special in Reaves, who went undrafted in 2021. He pushed him hard to get the best out of him and is benefitting from it now.
It also speaks to Reaves’ character that he was able to withstand that kind of treatment from an all-time great like James. A player in his position could have easily gone into a shell in that situation but he didn’t.
After a somewhat slow start to his rookie season, Reaves showed flashes of his potential in the second half of the campaign. He averaged only 7.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in 2021-22 but you could see that he had the potential to become a pretty good NBA player.
Reaves would then go from strength to strength over time and has now turned himself into a key piece for the Lakers. The 26-year-old is averaging 19.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in 2024-25 and is one of the better third options in the NBA.
While Reaves himself deserves most of the credit for becoming the player he is today, he believes James has had a big part to play in that too.
“From day one, he’s been one of the biggest reasons that I’ve continued to grow,” Reaves stated.
James has helped elevate a lot of his teammates over the years and Reaves is just yet another example of that. While some have crumbled with the pressure and expectations that come from playing alongside LeBron, the guard has stepped up to the challenge and is thriving.
LeBron James Always Believed In Austin Reaves
It was during the 2023 NBA Playoffs that Reaves showed the basketball world that he wasn’t just some flash in the pan. He scored 23 points against the Memphis Grizzlies on his playoff debut and after the game, James spoke glowingly of the guard.
“I knew from the first practice that he wasn’t going to be a two-way for long … I’ve been around the game long enough to know great basketball IQ players, and I know the type of players that fit with my game, and I knew Austin would be that right away.”
Reaves was initially on a two-way deal with the Lakers, but just under two months after he signed it, he was given a standard NBA contract. The team and James had seen enough in that short period of time to realize that they had struck gold.
Reaves has now played a big part in the Lakers having an impressive 33-21 record this season. He has stepped up in a big way on numerous occasions and will have to do so again on Saturday when the Lakers take on the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena at 8:30 PM ET.
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