Even though they’ve only been teammates for a little more than a year, Los Angeles Lakers guards Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell have built a strong relationship on and off the court.
In addition to play golf together often, Reaves and Russell also take turns with big performances for the Lakers. Om Friday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, it was Russell’s turn.
The Lakers’ starting point guard had a season-high 44 points to go along with six rebounds and nine assists, hitting the game-winning floater before Spencer Dinwiddie came up with a big block on Damian Lillard to secure the victory.
It was an incredible performance by Russell, and no one enjoyed it more than Reaves.
“Man. With those moments, it’s pure joy. Regardless of if it’s me, DLo, I remember when Bron made the layup in the Memphis series, I think it was Game 4. I jokingly afterwards, not really jokingly, but told him that was one of my most joyful moments. I had nothing to do, I was just standing out there,” Reaves said.
“But same thing with tonight. Just seeing DLo take over the game, I constantly kept telling him in timeouts to take us home. I could see the way that he was presenting himself and the way that he was playing, the feel that he had. Always the confidence that he plays with. It was one of those games where AD in the fourth quarter was playing through some discomfort in his left arm and DLo just stepped up and won us the game, and then obviously Spence too with that defensive possession. It’s a really hard task to keep Dame in front of you, let alone to block his shot. Not many people do that. So big-time plays.”
Russell has been on fire in recent weeks, which coincided with him name constantly being in trade rumors. The Lakers ultimately didn’t make any moves though and Reaves is happy to see his backcourt mate continuing to thrive in the purple and gold.
“It’s a beautiful thing. Honestly, I like the way he plays the game. He said on his podcast the other day, he was like I can’t jump, I have two left feet. But he’s still able to go do impressive things like tonight,” Reaves said of Russell.
“Just the way that he plays the game. He’s one of the smoothest players I’ve ever seen and been around. It’s a testament to what he does when nobody is watching. He’s always in the gym, like I’ve spoken about, trying to perfect his craft. We’re super close, we golf a lot. Just to see someone that you really care about on and off the court have any type of success on or off the court, it’s a beautiful thing to see. He’s probably touched on it, but he enjoys basketball. Even when the trade rumors were going around, whatever, he was showing up to work with a smile on his face because he was going to play basketball. It’s a beautiful thing to see.”
D’Angelo Russell discusses big night to lead Lakers
It’s been a roller coaster year for Russell and the Lakers, but his recent play has really propelled them back into championship contention.
After his big night against the Bucks, Russell talked about why he has been able to be so successful and the love he has for Lakers fans.
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