Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic have developed one of the NBA’s funniest, most natural teammate dynamics this season, and it was on full display again after the Lakers’ 129-119 win over the Mavericks. Fresh off dropping 38 points, Reaves couldn’t resist the chance to jump into Luka’s postgame interview and fire off another jab.
Reaves said with a straight face while crashing the set.
“I currently have more dunks than him right now.”
When host Alie Clifton turned to Luka for confirmation, he laughed but didn’t deny it.
“Yeah but he don’t stay for rebounds, he just goes off. He don’t want to play defense.”
Luka and AR postgame interviews are comedy 🤣
Reaves: “I currently have more dunks than him right now.”
Luka: “Yeah but he doesn’t wanna play defense.” 😭 pic.twitter.com/iHDzdwsFZg
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 29, 2025
It was a perfect snapshot of their relationship. They compete, they talk trash, and they somehow play their best basketball while trolling each other every step of the way.
Later, when Luka was asked about Reaves’ impact this season, he shifted gears and gave his teammate real credit.
“He’s been amazing the whole season. He’s been helping me a lot. Just great to have him on my team. Together, we can do a lot of things. Happy to be his teammate,” Luka said before quickly adding, “That’s the last one too.”
Reaves returned the favor with his own one-compliment limit.
“I usually don’t give Luca too many compliments, but he’s one of the, you know, the best players in the league, has been since he came into the league.”
“He makes the game so easy, he draws so much attention that, you know, every night, you know, at some point they’re gonna throw a blitz at him, so then you play advantage basketball and at that point you have me and Bron and a lot of smart players behind that to, you know, make the right read and, you know, that’s what we’ve continued to do and, yeah, that’s the one compliment I’ll give him.”
Their back-and-forth has been building all year. Luka roasted Reaves and Rui Hachimura for their English. Reaves mocked Luka’s arena dunk, calling him ‘mad’ about it. Luka called Reaves a ‘hater.’ Reaves called Luka an ‘idiot’ who acts ‘like a kid.’
JJ Redick went on record saying their chemistry is formed entirely through trash talk.
It works. And it’s translating directly to wins.
Reaves is having a breakout year, playing like a top-tier guard and producing superstar numbers. His 38 points on 12-of-15 shooting against Dallas were the latest example. Luka, meanwhile, torched his former team again with 35 points and 11 assists. Together, they’ve become the engine of a Lakers offense that suddenly looks unpredictable, unselfish, and explosive.
The Lakers shot 59 percent from the field and 51 percent from three against Dallas, running their win streak to six and completing a perfect 4-0 group stage in the NBA Cup and 14-4 in the standings.
Their partnership is also one of the reasons LeBron James has been able to ease into his minutes after returning from injury. When Luka draws the blitz, Reaves becomes the connector. When the defense collapses on Reaves’ drives, Luka punishes them. When neither has the ball, LeBron gets to play free and pick his moments.
Under JJ Redick, this team has grown into its personality. Luka is the superstar. Reaves is the rising star. LeBron is the stabilizer. And when the two younger guards keep needling each other like this, you can see why the chemistry looks effortless on the floor.
The Lakers have found a perfect balance between humor and dominance. And as long as Luka and Reaves keep trying to one-up each other, whether it’s scoring bursts or dunk count, the team will keep benefiting.
