Lakers' Austin Reaves praised by Team USA teammate

The legend of Austin Reaves continues to grow. The Los Angeles Lakers guard began his offseason by signing a new four-year, $56M contract extension shortly after an impressive postseason stretch where he emerged as a legitimate third option behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Next up? The chance to join Team USA at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, where he's already impressed through two exhibition games. Reaves stepped off the bench in Team USA's first exhibition game against Puerto Rico and immediately knocked down a three and proceeded to score nine points while helping the team run away with a victory.

While the praise for Reaves around Laker Nation can be heard virtually anywhere, fellow players are singing his praises as well. In a story by Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times about Reaves' emergence and play on Team USA, a number of players gave glowing reviews, but one that jumped out came from Brooklyn Nets breakout star Mikal Bridges.

“This ain’t no underdog s--- no more,” Brooklyn’s Mikal Bridges said of Reaves. “He’s here.”

It's high praise from Bridges, who's emerged as a lethal player on both ends of the floor and wasted no time emerging as a go-to option with the Nets after the team acquired him in the Kevin Durant trade with the Phoenix Suns. 

Bridges continued with the high praise while discussing the Lakers guard, calling his ability to create fouls and get to the free throw line an "art."

“I’ve been a fan. … I think the biggest thing about him I like is that he knows how to draw a foul,” Bridges said. “He knows how to create fouls and get to the free-throw line and that’s like a skill. He’s not just getting there. There’s a skill to that and it’s very underrated. People don’t really understand it but the ones that do, they know how tough it is to guard.

“That s---‘s an art.”

You'd be hard-pressed to find many, if any fans who disagree with the praise coming from Bridges. This especially stands true after Reaves' stellar play down the stretch of last season. After drastically improving his scoring average from 2021-22 to last year (from 7.3 points per game to 13), he broke out in the playoffs while helping the Lakers make it to the Western Conference Finals.

Reaves averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds over 16 postseason games last year while shooting 46.4% from the field and 44.3% from three-point range. This included averaging 21.3 points and 5.3 assists during the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets. 

In that series, Reaves shot 54.9% from the field and a stellar 56% from beyond the arc. He scored 23, 22, 23 and 17 points over the four-game span and played more than 40 minutes in three of the games.

Reaves' story is just beginning, but if his breakout last season is any indication, the arrow is pointing up in a big way. The 25-year-old's trajectory absolutely points him toward becoming an All-Star at some point. 

It may not happen immediately while playing alongside James and Davis, but he's made himself impossible to ignore by everyone else, so why not voters for the NBA All-Star Game?