Ziaire Williams Enjoying Being Austin Reaves’ Teammate

This season marks the beginning of a new era of Los Angeles Lakers basketball with a roster full of new players. Luka Doncic is the obvious face of the franchise and leader of this team, but Austin Reaves is the longest-tenured member of the Lakers and has also taken on more of a leadership role as well.

It is still very early on in the season with everyone still getting to know each other, but Reaves is already ingratiating himself well with his new teammates. Ziaire Williams, in particular, recently spoke about enjoying being around Reaves, his love for the game and his positive attitude overall.

“It’s fun, for sure,” Williams said about being Reaves’ teammate. “He brings a lot of joy to the game. He’s always joking around in serious moments. But it’s good. You need that in life. You can’t always be too serious. So shoutout to AR.”

There are many different forms of leadership and certain people play different roles in the locker room. There are gonna be some who are always serious and stern, but there needs to be balance with others bringing in some levity and fun. This was famously the case with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal as Bryant was always serious, but O’Neal brought the fun and made everyone on the roster feel welcome.

As Williams noted, Reaves’ ability to bring some jokes even in serious moments is good for the overall atmosphere of the locker room. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t take this seriously as everyone sees the work he puts in and his performance on the court is reflective of that. But he is also able to keep things loose and light which is important over the course of an 82-game season.

Reaves has gotten off to a strong start this season averaging 23.3 points and 5.0 assists while shooting 53.1% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range. Williams meanwhile, has been exactly what the Lakers hoped when they signed him this summer, bringing excellent defensive energy and taking on the toughest tasks, while also knocking down 44% from deep and averaging a 10.7 points per game.

Austin Reaves vows to fix early-season turnover issues

One area where Reaves has struggled this season is with taking care of the ball as he is averaging a career high in turnovers. But after committing none in the Lakers’ victory against the Sacramento Kings, the guard vowed to fix his early-season turnover issues.