This was a season for the Los Angeles Lakers in which injuries greatly affected almost everyone on the roster to some degree. Basically everyone missed at least a handful of games due to some sort of ailment or sickness. Everyone except Austin Reaves, that is.
Reaves was the only member of the Lakers to play in all 82 games and turned in his best season to date of his young career, averaging 15.9 points and 5.5 assists in just over 32 minutes a night. And the Lakers made sure to congratulate Reaves on his iron man season on social media:
All 82. Salute to an iron man season ? pic.twitter.com/Ts1kozGIzx
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 14, 2024
As the graphic noted, Reaves technically played in 83 games this year as the In-Season Tournament Final against the Indiana Pacers does not count towards the final record. As such, Reaves was one of only three people to play in more than 82 games this season, joining Obi Toppin of the Indiana Pacers and Buddy Hield, who technically played 85 games this year due to both that In-Season Tournament and a mid-season trade.
There was a lot of pressure on Reaves coming into the season after his outstanding postseason run last year and a new contract in the offseason. There was even some buzz about him potentially rising to All-Star level and while that didn’t happen, it shouldn’t take away from his very strong season in just his third year in the league.
As D’Angelo Russell noted previously, Reaves has been a warrior for the Lakers this year, guarding the opposing team’s best player every night and generally making life easier on both the Lakers coaches and teammates. Reaves is extremely reliable, the Lakers have asked a lot of him on both ends of the court this year and, for the most part, he has delivered more often than not.
And now after 83 games, the postseason, where Reaves broke out a year ago, is upon us and the Lakers will be looking for another strong showing from the guard if they plan on getting out of the Play-In Tournament and making another playoff run.
Going back to Feb. 2023, Reaves has now played in 128 straight games for the Lakers, and that’s not including the games he played with Team USA last summer as well.
Austin Reaves prides himself on being a two-way player for Lakers
Players like Austin Reaves makes life easier on their coach and Darvin Ham is certainly thankful for everything Reaves has done for the Lakers. Ham recently spoke highly of Reaves’ competitive nature and truly priding himself on being a two-way player.
“When you’re a competitor, you can make things work and he prides himself on being a two-way player, not just all offense,” Ham said. “The way he competes, some of the plays he makes just covering for his teammates on the ball, his scrappiness, taking charges, whatever it involves. He’s competing at a high level and I think that has a lot to do with it.
“When guys see their teammates competing like that, fighting, maybe they don’t look the part, but he’s getting the results because he’s a high level competitor. So that tends to rub off. Both he and Rui have drawn some incredibly tough matchups but they don’t moan, they don’t complain, they just go out there and compete.”
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