Austin Reaves broke out as one of the NBA’s young stars during the 2023 Playoffs for his clutch performances for the Lakers, particularly in the first round against the Grizzlies. Reaves led the Lakers to a fourth-quarter run in Game 1 of the first round, encapsulating it by yelling ‘I’m Him’, a now iconic moment.
Reaves opened up on what was going through his mind at that moment, with one of the factors being not failing LeBron James‘ trust in him.
“One of the best moments of my career. LeBron was giving me the ball and in my mind the whole time I was just thinking ‘I can’t mess this up’. This is just pure reaction, I didn’t think about it. I play off so much emotion that things just happen on the court. There was a great fourth-quarter run for me and it’s just what came out of my mouth.”
"LeBron was giving me the ball… I can't mess this up."
– Austin Reaves on his "I'M HIM" moment after scoring 23 PTS (14 in the 4Q) in a playoff game last season🗣️
🏀 Suns-Lakers, 10pm/et tonight on TNT pic.twitter.com/AQk2jE281H
— NBA (@NBA) December 5, 2023
That Game 1 was a comprehensive 128-112 road win for the Lakers, who were going up against the No. 2 seed in the West. Austin Reaves went off for 23 points in the game, with 14 points in the fourth to put the game away. The best scorer for the Lakers on that day was Rui Hachimura, who scored 29 points in the win.
Reaves averaged 16.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in that series and firmly established his place on the Lakers for the long term. He re-signed with the team to the maximum amount he could (four years, $65 million) in the summer and is now one of the integral pieces on a team that hopes to contend.
Austin Reaves Overcoming A Slow Start To The Season
Austin Reaves is not having the best start to the 2023-24 season, playing inconsistently for the Lakers so far. He’s currently averaging 13.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists, unimpressive numbers compared to what we expected before the season. Reaves was supposed to take a leap and emerge as the Lakers third star behind LeBron and Anthony Davis. Instead, he’s been relegated to being the team’s sixth man behind starters Cam Reddish and Taurean Prince.
Reaves has fared better since moving to the bench, still providing crucial scoring sparks for the Lakers. His inconsistency is one of the reasons the team is struggling this season, but he can quickly find his rhythm once again. Reaves is also struggling to fit into the team’s defensive schemes, which primarily led to him being benched for Reddish as a starter, another area that the Lakers guard will hope to improve.
He’s widely been considered untouchable in trade talks, but the Lakers may need to consider that possibility given his strong value to teams around the league. It’ll be a bit of a panic move because the Lakers can still extract value from a versatile guard like Reaves, but their quest for a third star becomes much easier if Reaves is made available.
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