Lakers' JJ Redick Talks Challenging Austin Reaves to Be Team Leader with LeBron, Luka
The Los Angeles Lakers are widely viewed as LeBron James' and Luka Dončić's team, but head coach JJ Redick talked this week about his goal of elevating Austin Reaves to their status in terms of being a leader.
Speaking to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Redick mentioned the discussions he has had with Reaves about taking on a greater leadership role, and how Reaves has risen to the occasion.
"The biggest thing was him taking a step forward as a leader and recognizing that it's as much his team as it is LeBron's team or Luka's team," Redick said. "And acknowledging that he does have innate, natural leadership skills and being able to tap into those more consistently. I told him, he's out of excuses. You're no longer the undrafted guy who's a young player. You're one of the [main] guys now, and he's been very responsive to that."
Originally an undrafted player out of the University of Oklahoma, Reaves has gone from a bench contributor to a potential All-Star over the course of his five-year NBA career.
Reaves primarily came off the bench over his first two seasons before moving into the starting lineup during the 2023-24 campaign.
Last season, Reaves started all 73 games he appeared in and set career highs with 20.2 points, 5.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 three-pointers made and 1.1 steals per game.
As good as he was, it was fair to wonder if there was much room for growth to Reaves' game beyond that, especially as a third option behind James and Dončić.
However, with LeBron missing the start of this season due to sciatica, Reaves has been called upon to level up, and he has unquestionably done that.
Through eight games so far this season, Reaves is averaging 30.3 points, 9.0 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 2.9 three-pointers made and 1.5 steals per contest.
On top of that, Reaves acknowledged to McMenamin that Redick has been on him about expanding his leadership contributions as well.
"He basically pulled me in and was like, 'Obviously this isn't all on you, but take control. Be a leader,'" Reaves said. "The same talk over and over again was, 'Your teammates like you,' which I don't even know if they actually do, but he just kept telling me. … 'You kind of just hiding in the back is over. You have to take control and speak up and be a leader of this team.'"
While only Reaves, his teammates and his coaches know what kind of strides he has made as a leader, there is no doubt that his on-court play has contributed heavily to winning basketball.
Even without James, who is unquestionably among the greatest players of all time, the Lakers are off to an 8-3 start, and they look like a potential contender in the deep and talented Western Conference.
It is possible they will only get better once Reaves, James and Dončić are all on the court together, and that could lead to even bigger games and situations in which Reaves can put his leadership skills to the test.
