The Los Angeles Lakers have wrapped up their road trip with a win over the Charlotte Hornets. Hollywood was already in a bad place, considering the injury issue in the squad. Following the success, the head coach Darvin Ham is also happy with the team’s performance. Since the team has many injury problems, LA is cornered to give the youngsters more time on the court. Although the Lakers have not been at their best, they are hanging in there. One such player is Austin Reeves, who gets his chance to play from time to time.
LeBron James Praises Lakers’ Young Point Guard
The way the Lakers have played on the road, everyone is singing the praise of the Lakers’ small forward. However, there is a youngster in the team who LeBron is praising. Austin Reaves contributed a lot in the last games, and James fancied his part in the post-game interview.
LeBron first talked about the slump that the Lakers point guard was going through. However, James said that he knew Austin’s potential and could always perform better. Later the four-time champ finished talking about Reaves, saying he is a big part of the Lakers. After receiving so many appraisals, Reaves would like to keep up his form in the next tough game against the Miami Heat.
Austin Reaves Flourished Against The Charlotte
Every Laker fan would agree that the roller coaster their team is facing has never ended this season. Until the end of December, LA was quite balanced and sustainable until Davis injured himself. So the Lakers would gladly accept whatever good is happening to them. Meanwhile, there is a youngster in the squad who has been having trouble with his form lately. However, Austin Reaves came out of his block and scored 15 points, seven assists, and six rebounds to help his team make a happy new year.
In the post-game interview, the second-year point guard talked about his bad phase on the court lately. The past few weeks were not exactly the way the youngster would have hoped for his top-flight career. He was missing shots and performed poorly overall. However, his bad phase finally came to an end on the first day of 2023. After the game, the 24-year-old said that his fellow teammate Russell Westbrook greatly influenced him in his bust. Westbrook told him his story of once going 0-11 in a game which significantly improved Reaves’ perspective of the game. Meanwhile, the Lakers are also missing Russ due to his foot injury.
Austin holds very high standards for himself, which is inspiring but could be a huge blow to his self-esteem in bad times. The youngster told in the interview that he wants every ball to end up in the basket, which is an absurd wish. Reaves talked about his conversation with Phil Handy, who told him to have fun and enjoy the game rather than get frustrated at every mistake. And he called his stroke back in the game against Charlotte. Even James had a few words of appreciation for the Lakers’ young point guard.
