Los Angeles Lakers’ Austin Reaves On LeBron James: ‘He’s The Best Player To Ever Touch A Basketball’

Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves grew up a Kobe Bryant fan, but he thinks LeBron James is “the best player to ever touch a basketball.”

“In my opinion, he’s the best player to ever touch a basketball,” Austin Reaves said about LeBron James on The Young Man and The Three podcast. “He probably could have retired six years ago and people would still say the same thing. He has enough money regardless of what he was saying on that podcast the other day. He has enough money.

“That’s the only reason he’s still playing basketball. It’s cuz he loves the grind. He loves the game. He wants to continue to get better. Even when you’re at that level, there’s still things that he thinks he can work on to become a better player. I think that’s the most incredible thing about him is how he conducts himself on and off the court.”

James enters this season with career averages of 27.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.7 blocks with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Lakers. He’s a four-time MVP, a four-time champion, a four-time Finals MVP, a one-time scoring champion and a one-time assists champion. 

James, who grew up idolizing Michael Jordan, is first in NBA history in points. He’s the only player to rank top five all-time in points and assists, the only player to win three Finals MVPs with three teams, the only player with 40,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 career assists and the only player to score 50,000 points combining the regular season and playoffs.

The 40-year-old James has one year left on his contract with the Lakers. He becomes an unrestricted free agent next offseason for the first time since 2018.

James turns 41 in December. He’s the oldest active player in the NBA. The King made the All-NBA Second Team and finished sixth in MVP voting last season.