All things considered, it has been a pretty rough season for the Lakers so far. With guys in and out of the lineup and plenty of glaring issues being exposed on the court, the team has had trouble staying afloat in the West.
On Wednesday, the team got a much-needed boost after rookie Austin Reaves (of all people) nailed a game-winning shot against the Mavericks, who were without Luka Doncic.
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1471319984186040327
It was an amazing shot that credited a win to the 17x Champs. The best part about it, however, was the morale boost it gave the team and the entire Lakers community.
After the game, Lakers players celebrated in excitement for probably the first time all season. On social media, fans went crazy in their reactions.
Don’t know if we’ve seen this much joy out of the Lakers all season. They all reveled in the rookie’s game winner. pic.twitter.com/r0QgZeAjR2
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 16, 2021
AUSTIN REAVES TOP 10 NBA PLAYER OF ALL TIME DONT @ ME!!!!!!! 🗣🗣🗣
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) December 16, 2021
https://twitter.com/JJMaples55_MST/status/1471286644602933248
AUSTIN REAVES HITS THE GAME-WINNER FOR THE LAKERS AGAINST THE MAVS pic.twitter.com/DgeHccQBQ6
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 16, 2021
https://twitter.com/LordDOMS/status/1471322905422139393https://twitter.com/littlerob13/status/1471322887172808704
Austin Reaves with the biggest shot of his life for the Los Angeles Lakers. pic.twitter.com/fMDIh3GKRE
— Landon Thomas (@sixfivelando) December 16, 2021
It’s him. pic.twitter.com/Br3QwujZsv
— Jib (@AgendaJib) December 16, 2021
Kobe watching that Austin Reaves Clutch 3 Winner from Heaven pic.twitter.com/MWdEfgu089
— Jordan (@JordanDaBoss24) December 16, 2021
— Brett Goldman (@brettauman) December 16, 2021
It was obviously the game of Austin Reaves’ career, and the story of how he got to the Lakers is actually pretty interesting.
After college, Reaves had the chance to get picked by the Pistons in the Draft. Instead, he turned them down to join the Purple and Gold on a two-way deal.
“The night before, the Lakers had called, and said if for some reason I go undrafted, that they wanted to be the first place that said ‘hey, we’ve got a two-way for you.’ And so going into the draft we knew that I was gonna have a two-way contract in L.A., so we were in a good place with contract stuff and things like that.
“So going into the draft we didn’t really press. I think Detroit called at like 41 or 42, whichever pick they had, and were like ‘we’ll take him on a two-way,’ and it was really just more a situation where I wanted to be where we saw the best fit.”
Nobody would have imagined he’d be hitting game-winners beside LeBron James down the stretch of a tight game. Kind of funny how life works sometimes.
Of course, we’ll have to wait and see what the victory means for the team moving forward. Hopefully, they use it to build up momentum and move up the standings.
They’ve got a long way to go, but they’re starting to show some signs of life.
