Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic are shining on the court for the Los Angeles Lakers, and they’re having a lot of fun with each other off it as well. Reaves fired his latest playful jab at Doncic in his media session after the Lakers’ 130-120 win over the Miami Heat, when asked what he had seen from the latter on and off the court this season.
“He’s an idiot,” Reaves said, via Dave McMenamin. “I don’t know what he did yesterday, but he was in a really good mood today, joking around, having a good time. I guess he’s a big football fan, because he sat over there and watched the Chiefs-Bills game for a long time. He’s a Cowboys fan, I know, but yeah, it’s human nature when things like last year happened.
“Nobody ever thought [the trade] was gonna happen,” Reaves continued. “So I’m sure he was in a state of shock and couldn’t believe it, and having to move, move his family. So it was tough. Now I think he’s just getting comfortable, having a good time, but yeah, he acts like a kid. He needs to grow up at some point.”
We didn’t quite see Doncic be his usual playful self off the court last season after the Dallas Mavericks traded him to the Lakers. The five-time All-Star seemed still in shock about the move, but looks to have gotten over it now.
Doncic’s personality is shining through these days, and the dynamic with Reaves is hilarious. They have been going at each other for a few weeks now.
Before the opening day of the season, Reaves called Doncic his favorite teammate ever, but later added he was just joking. The Slovenian hilariously responded by calling the guard his least favorite teammate. Doncic also added that Reaves is a big kid who is very childish.
Just a few days later, Reaves trolled Doncic for missing a free throw that would have led to him getting 50 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves. As fate would have it, the 27-year-old found himself at the charity stripe with a chance to get to 50 points in the Lakers’ very next game against the Sacramento Kings.
Reaves admitted he was a bit nervous as he stepped up for those free throws, because he knew Doncic would get on him if he missed. He fortunately didn’t miss and ensured there would be no trolling on that day. The back-and-forths will never stop, though, as Reaves stated the relationship with Doncic is all about talking trash to each other.
While you don’t have to be the best of friends to have great chemistry on the court, it certainly doesn’t hurt if you get along as well as these two do. They have been spectacular so far this season, and their play has led to the Lakers thriving even in LeBron James‘ absence.
Doncic is averaging 41.3 points, 11.5 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game for the Lakers in 2025-26. The 26-year-old has been very efficient too, shooting 54.5% from the field.
As for Reaves, he is putting up 31.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 9.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. He carried the Lakers on his back when both James and Doncic were out, and is showing he can be a real star.
While these two have stolen the headlines, head coach JJ Redick also deserves a lot of credit for how well this team is playing. The Lakers were without all three of their big names against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday and still came away with a 123-115 win. They’re now 6-2 on the season and will be up against the 5-1 San Antonio Spurs next at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday at 10 PM ET.
