Lakers News: Austin Reaves Apathetic About Individual Success Amidst 4-Game Slide

LA's sixth man is living that "there's no 'I' in 'team' life."

Your Los Angeles Lakers are in the midst of a brutal four-game skid, and has gone 1-5 since winning the NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament.

But sixth man shooting guard Austin Reaves is playing his tail off. During LA's 1-5 run after the In-Season Tournament, the 6'5" swingman out of Oklahoma is averaging 20 points on .506/.436/.944 shooting splits, 5.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 0.8 steals per bout. 

In remarks made to report after the club's most recent loss, a 118-111 disappointment against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Reaves addressed exactly how little he cared about his personal scoring success, as captured by Spectrum SportsNet.

"I feel good. Confident, playing the game the right way... Now it's just about figuring out how to win these games, that's all that matters to me. I don't care about stats, I don't care about all the notoriety I just want to win games." 🫡 pic.twitter.com/HtyB3YGuh0

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 22, 2023

"I feel good," Reaves said of his individual run. "Confident, playing the game the right way... Now it's just about figuring out how to win these games, that's all that matters to me. I don't care about stats, I don't care about all the notoriety I just want to win games."

Across 29 games this season, the Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner has been averaging 15.3 points on .477/.360/.878 splits, 4.9 dimes and 4.7 boards per for the 15-14 Lakers.

Reaves may not be starting games, but he's been closing them with regularity ahead of starting point guard D'Angelo Russell, a lineup reality with which some of us at All Lakers heartily disagree.