The LeBron James era of the Los Angeles Lakers has officially come to an end as he let the team know ahead of the start of free agency that he would be finishing his career elsewhere.
While this was something the Lakers could foresee coming, there still is a shock factor now that it has actually come to fruition. That is especially the case for Austin Reaves, who was James’ longest-tenured teammate with the Lakers and has spent his entire NBA career playing alongside the superstar.
After the news broke, Reaves took to social media to express his appreciation to James, who he has built an extremely close relationship with over the last few years:
Austin Reaves with a message for LeBron James on IG.
Austin is now the longest-tenured Laker. pic.twitter.com/tsY38HSBtt
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) July 1, 2026
Reaves and James playing together was a joy to watch as they are both extremely unselfish and have high basketball IQs. Arguably no player has had a bigger impact on Reaves’ career, and now he will take what he learned from James to develop into more of a leader for L.A. since he is their longest-tenured and oldest player on the roster.
It will be fun to see Reaves and James now compete against each other when the latter finds a new team given how competitive they both are.
LeBron James has enjoyed witnessing Austin Reaves’ growth
James saw Reaves’ talent early on when the Lakers signed him as an undrafted free agent. The guard has improved in each of his five seasons with the team though and James discussed how much he has enjoyed witnessing that growth.
“Just seeing AR grow over, what, five years? It’s been nothing short of amazing,” James said following the conclusion of the Lakers’ season. “He’s a hard worker, loves the game, he wants to get better and he’s not afraid of constructive criticism. I kind of knew that from the beginning.
“I saw the talent but I also saw he was willing to put the work in and wasn’t afraid of the moment. To see where he is today is awesome. I knew he could be a big-time player for our ballclub if he just got the opportunity and if gained confidence in himself to know he belonged in this league, then he could do some special things in this league. He’s obviously shown it.”
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