LeBron James is on the horizon of playing in the season debut of his 23rd season in the NBA as he nears a return to practice. Sitting out over a month, including the preseason, due to sciatica nerve damage issues.
In the time that he’s been out, the Lakers have an 8-4 record for the season so far, with Austin Reaves playing arguably the best basketball in his career in James’ absence.
Therefore, the next big question for the Lakers has been figuring out how to maintain Austin Reaves’ momentum when LeBron James returns. Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal recently recorded an episode of his own podcast, ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq’, where he discussed Reaves’ flurry this season.
O’Neal was discussing Reaves’ performance this season with renowned actor Anthony Anderson, and comparing it to the famous ‘Linsanity’ run from Jeremy Lin in 2012. Anderson claimed both performances were similar and turned the tables on O’Neal to ask him his opinion on Reaves.
“He can play. But when the big man comes back, everything shifts back… Like, I’m going to put it in street terms. While the OG is in jail, you’re running sh**. But as soon as he comes back home.”
“I kind of feel for Austin cause he looks good. He’s playing good. But when they have their full team back, he’s going to be reverted to standing in the corner, taking last-second threes,” said O’Neal in a harsh reality check for the Lakers guard.
To understand how well Reaves is playing this season, let’s compare his career stats before this season, his most recent full-season averages, and his current season averages.
Before this season, Reaves was averaging 14.5 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.8 rebounds, shooting 48.1% from the field for his career before this season. In the 2024-25 season, he averaged 20.2 points, 5.8 assists, and 4.5 rebounds, while shooting 46% from the field.
All these performances were with James almost always actively available to play. Playing in nine games this season without James, Reaves has averaged 28.3 points, 8.3 assists, and 5.1 rebounds, while shooting 47% from the field.
His scoring and playmaking production have significantly improved, albeit in a much smaller sample size as compared to last season and his career. A few of these games were also without Luka Doncic; therefore, a true test of Austin Reaves’ leadership skills.
Considering that Reaves was 6-3 in these nine games, it will be hard to justify a reduced usage rate if it were for any player other than LeBron, but at the end of the day, it’s LeBron James.
If it were any other player like Chris Paul, who was not performing at an elite level like LeBron, then they may have had to accept the reduced usage despite their veteran status.
But ultimately, I have full faith that with the maturity that Reaves has gained over the years, James and he would be able to figure out a way to balance the effective usage rate for both players. The primary goal will be to win, even if that means either of these players will have to sacrifice time with the ball to essentially stand in the corner to hit last-second three-point shots if the need arises.
