Heading into the FIBA World Cup, the Team USA roster was extremely young with little to no experience in international play. Therefore, the expectations were low for fans going into the tournament.
However, the talent was there and Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves was one of the bright spots throughout the whole World Cup despite there being some outside noise on whether he deserved to be on the roster or not. Reaves would become a key bench piece for USA and would often find himself finishing games, which is no surprise to Lakers fans.
Team USA was looking good through group play, only suffering one loss to Lithuania, and it seemed that the Gold Medal was in sight. However, USA would lose in the semifinals against Germany, a game where Reaves scored 21 points off the bench.
The focus would then shift to the bronze medal game against Canada in hopes of at least leaving with a medal, although that didn’t happen either. Dillon Brooks, no stranger to Lakers fans, would explode for a game-high 39 points making it hard for USA to come out with a win with Canada ultimately pulling away in overtime. Reaves kept his thoughts on the loss short and sweet, via Lakers reporter Mike Trudell:
“Not good enough,” he said. “We lost, so that’s the moral of the day. It’s not good enough.”
It was a rough last two games for Team USA and to leave with no medal is disappointing due to the standards that the program has. But, the focus now is the 2024 Olympics to hopefully win gold next summer. Regardless though, the World Cup continued to show how great of a player Reaves is and what he is truly capable of moving forward.
International play is a lot different from the NBA, specifically more physical, and the Arkansas native held his own out there. He was able to play the same way and be just as effective, which will help his confidence heading into a year of championship aspirations for L.A.
The young USA squad showed promise and allowed the young stars to represent their country while getting the experience of what it is like to play in FIBA and the Olympics. It has been an eventful and busy offseason for Reaves, but now it is time to start getting ready for the upcoming season.
LeBron James & Anthony Davis advocated for Reaves to make roster in 2021-22
After going undrafted in 2021, Reaves would sign a two-way contract with the Lakers. It did not take long for stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James to recognize that Reaves belonged on the Lakers roster, however, and reports indicate that they advocated for his two-way contract to be upgraded and that’s ultimately what happened.
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