The biggest reason for the Los Angeles Lakers’ success this season has been their backcourt, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, quickly building chemistry on and off the court.
Doncic and Reaves are both playing at an All-Star level, the latter of which many didn’t expect considering both players are at their best with the ball in their hands.
Not only have Doncic and Reaves gelled on the floor, but they have also quickly built a close relationship off it. In an interview with Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Reaves credited that to their mutual competitiveness in everything they do:
“I saw that we had — I don’t love saying this — many similarities in how we like to compete in all different things,” Reaves said. “Not just basketball. Whatever. Cards, bowling, darts … which he hasn’t beaten me at either.”
Reaves believes the relationship that he and Doncic have built has also helped with their chemistry on the court:
“We act like we’re probably 10-year old best friends,” Reaves said. “You have a deeper care for one another than just basketball. And then that bleeds into basketball, because you don’t want to let that person down. … You don’t want to not give it your all.”
Doncic agreed with his teammate’s sentiment in stating that the chemistry building process has been natural:
Doncic said: “We kind of understand each other — what the other is going to do. So I would say it’s a little bit natural.”
According to one source of McMenamin’s within the Lakers, Reaves playing as well as he has helped earn the respect of Doncic, who is used to playing with other high-level guards:
“He’s realizing, ‘F—, Austin is good!'” a team source told ESPN. “It was the same way he loved [Jalen] Brunson and loved Kyrie [Irving]. There’s an appreciation for great players.”
Doncic signed an extension with the Lakers this past offseason, but Reaves is currently in a contract year. All indications are that he wants to remain with the Lakers and they want to sign him to a long-term deal as well, which means Reaves and Doncic would be the team’s starting backcourt for the foreseeable future.
JJ Redick believes Luka Doncic & Austin Reaves share common trait
The mutual competitiveness that Doncic and Reaves share has been noticeable to everyone around them as Lakers head coach JJ Redick recently spoke about it.
“I think it’s in a really healthy place,” Redick said of Doncic and Reaves’ relationship. “I think what they realized early in the preseason, I don’t know if it was the first road trip or the second one that we went on, but they both realized that they both enjoy talking trash a lot. And their personalities in that regard are very similar so they can sort of create a little bit of chemistry with each other just by being their natural selves.”
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