The Los Angeles Lakers backcourt this season is slated to be anchored by a pair of guards playing on new contracts this season in D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves. Both free agents this past offseason, Russell and Reaves re-upped with the Lakers on two and four-year contracts, respectively. Now, they are the starting backcourt duo alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The two players built an immediate rapport when Russell was traded to the Lakers from the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of a blockbuster, three-team trade deadline deal. Russell and Reaves played 246 minutes together during the 2022-23 regular season and posted a plus-28 net rating as a duo.
That basketball chemistry both stems from, and has helped to enhance, their off-court chemistry as well. Reaves spoke about the friendship he’s developed with Russell and how Russell has impacted both him personally and the Lakers as a team, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“Yeah I mean, he’s one of my best friends. Obviously on the team and off the court too. We play a lot of golf together. He’s just, he seems to be in a great space. Obviously he signed a contract that locks him up for a couple of years. Just the freedom that he’s playing with, the leadership that he has, he’s always boosting your confidence to say the least. He’s never shy for confidence, he’s got a lot of confidence, and like I said he gives it to everybody else. He’s in a great space and like I said a month ago I think he’s going to have a huge year for us.”
Reaves then elaborated on some of the golf that he and Russell have played together and was reluctant to admit the results of their most recent round.
“He might’ve beat me. He beat me when we were in Vegas and then I want to say we’ve played one more time, but I play so much golf that it all blends together. But he’s gotten the best of me a couple times.”
Having a backcourt duo that not only plays well together, but gets along off the court, is a huge benefit for a Lakers team that has not had obvious team chemistry in a couple seasons. Russell and Reaves seem equipped to do the job required for L.A. while also enjoying their time playing alongside one another.
Reaves wants to tell kids he won championship with LeBron James
Reaves has a very simple goal for the 2023-24 season, and it involves having a story to tell his eventual kids when he looks back at his time in the NBA.
When asked about his third-year goals, Reaves talks about team goals. “Twenty years from now, if I’m lucky enough to have kids, I could be like, I won a championship with LeBron James. … That’s all I really care about right now.”
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