LeBron James Makes Strong Austin Reaves Statement

LeBron James used the Grizzlies as a teaching tool for Reaves.

Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

When the Lakers played the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA Playoffs last season, it was a huge stepping stone for many of the Lakers' role players. It turns out, it was by LeBron James' design.

In each game of the series, there was a different Lakers role player stepping up: Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, and D'Angelo Russell. In the case of Austin Reaves, LeBron really wanted to see what he was made of in the fourth quarter against Memphis.

During the newest episode of the Mind the Game podcast, Lebron James revealed how he started trusting Austin Reaves more after the series against the Memphis Grizzlies.

"Last year in the Memphis series, AR gained a lot of trust from me, but also I had trust in him to make the plays," LeBron said. "I believe it was game three, maybe, or game two, I think they had home court, yeah they had home court. So, it was either game one or game two, where in the fourth quarter, I was just like, 'AR, go win it for us.' I wanted to see it."

.@KingJames talks about his trust in Austin Reaves in Episode 2 of Mind the Game 👇 pic.twitter.com/N2JxtLas5A

— Mind the Game (@mindthegamepod) March 28, 2024

On the opposite end, the series against the Lakers was a real humbling moment for the Memphis Grizzlies. Memphis had asked for the matchup, was the second seed, and lost very convincingly to LA. They won't be getting an opportunity to get their lick back, but hopefully, next season will tell a different story.

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