Lakers' LeBron James Praises Austin Reaves: Knows 'How to Play the F--king Game'

Austin Reaves' breakout season for the Los Angeles Lakers has made the biggest star in the NBA a fan of his game.

LeBron James explained to ESPN's Dave McMenamin what he appreciates about the way Reaves plays:

"I don't give a f--k about, like, athleticism; how great you can shoot the ball; how high you can jump; how fast you can run. I like high basketball IQ guys. Obviously, you got to have that s--t to win a championship. You got to have guys that can do extraordinary s--t. But, like, I've always had a liking to guys that just know how to play the f--king game of basketball."

Reaves was an unheralded prospect coming out of Oklahoma. He went undrafted in the 2021 NBA draft and wound up signing a two-way contract with the Lakers.

Los Angeles gave Reaves a standard contract before the start of the 2021-22 season. He didn't make much of an impact as a rookie, averaging 7.3 points per game on 45.9 percent shooting from the field in 61 appearances.

First-year head coach Darvin Ham increased Reaves' role in the offense this season. The 24-year-old responded by turning into an essential player for the Lakers. He finished fourth on the team in scoring average (13.0 points per game) and made 39.8 percent of his three-point attempts in 64 regular-season games.

After the trade deadline, Reaves' game really took off with 16.5 points and 5.0 assists per contest in 27 appearances. He shot 45.6 percent from behind the arc during that span.

Through the first five games of the Lakers' playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies, Reaves has scored at least 17 points three times and is 10-of-25 from three-point range.

The Lakers' ultimate success in this postseason will be determined by how well James and Anthony Davis play, but a high-level role player like Reaves can make life easier on them by playing well.

Reaves will look to help the Lakers close out their series against the Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena in Game 6 on Friday night at 10:30 p.m. ET.