{"id":27272,"date":"2023-04-17T05:31:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T05:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/17\/i-knew-austin-would-be-that-lebron-james-says-he-knew-austin-reaves-was-going-to-a-massive-part-of-lakers-after-first-practice\/"},"modified":"2023-04-17T05:31:49","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T05:31:49","slug":"i-knew-austin-would-be-that-lebron-james-says-he-knew-austin-reaves-was-going-to-a-massive-part-of-lakers-after-first-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/17\/i-knew-austin-would-be-that-lebron-james-says-he-knew-austin-reaves-was-going-to-a-massive-part-of-lakers-after-first-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;I knew Austin would be that&#8221;- LeBron James says he knew Austin Reaves was going to a massive part of Lakers after first practice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"3926303\" data-slug-id=\"1473523\">\n<p>Austin Reaves, on his playoff debut, turned heads with an incredible performance in Game 1 of the series between the LA Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies. Reaves\u2019 spectacular fourth quarter helped the Lakers steal home-court advantage from the Grizzlies with a 128-112 win.<\/p>\n<p>After the game, LeBron James had this to say about the previously unheralded Reaves\u2019 sizzling night:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIt\u2019s not surprising to me. I knew from the first practice that we had that he wasn\u2019t gonna be a two-way player for long. \u2026 I\u2019ve been around the game long enough to know great basketball IQ players and I know the type of players that fit my game and I knew Austin [Reaves] would be that right away.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><template id=\"bets-today-poll\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"preview-card-holder bets-today-poll\">\n<p><span class=\"date\"\/> \u2022 <span class=\"time\"\/><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI gotta give a lot of credit to Coach Vogel on just throwing him into the fire and let him learn on the fly and allowing him to make mistakes and let him play through a lot of stuff. \u2026 It\u2019s not surprising what he\u2019s doing tonight. \u2026 I\u2019m extremely happy for him.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed hidden-lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/twitter\">\n<div class=\"tweet-outer-container\" style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"tweet-container\">\n<div class=\"tweet-body\">&#8220;I knew from the first practice we had&#8230;he wasn&#8217;t going to be a two-way player for long.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>LeBron knew Austin Reaves was special from day one \ud83e\udd1d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"app-tweet-blockquote\"><p>&#8220;I knew from the first practice we had&#8230;he wasn&#8217;t going to be a two-way player for long.&#8221;LeBron knew Austin Reaves was special from day one \ud83e\udd1d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yTSalzAGET\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/yTSalzAGET<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>Austin Reaves was an undrafted rookie in 2021. On August 3 of that year, he signed a two-way deal with the LA Lakers. A month later, the team decided to give him a standard contract.<\/p>\n<p>In the Lakers\u2019 terrible 2021-22 campaign, the former Oklahoma standout showed glimpses of what he could do. He was toasted by Laker Nation on Dec. 15 when he dropped a game-winning three-pointer against the Dallas Mavericks.<\/p>\n<p>Before the Lakers ended their embarrassing season in 2022, Austin Reaves reminded basketball fans that there was more to come. He completed the first triple-double of his career in LA\u2019s 146-141 overtime win over the Denver Nuggets.<\/p>\n<p>Reaves had a then career-high 31 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists.<\/p>\n<p>Also read: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/news-watch-la-lakers-locker-room-gives-rookie-austin-reaves-hero-s-welcome-ot-winner-dallas-mavericks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Watch: LA Lakers locker room gives rookie Austin Reaves a hero&#8217;s welcome after OT winner against Dallas Mavericks<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura were the heroes in the LA Lakers&#8217; crucial Game 1 win over the Memphis Grizzlies<\/h2>\n<p>The LA Lakers had LeBron James and Anthony Davis healthy, but it was Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves who made the biggest impact. Hachimura scored a team-high 29 points in 30 minutes off the bench. The Japanese basketball star made 11-14 field-goal attempts, including 5-6 from behind the arc.<\/p>\n<p>Hachimura&#8217;s 21 points, where he missed only one of nine shots in the second half, were crucial. His four third-quarter three-pointers kept the Grizzlies at bay and was a pest on defense.<\/p>\n<p>Over his last four games, which were all crucial for the Lakers, Rui Hachimura has averaged 16.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He is hitting 54.5% of his shots, including 44.4% from behind the arc. <\/p>\n<p>Austin Reaves, on the other hand, made several clutch baskets in the last few minutes of the game. He scored nine straight points to snuff out the Memphis Grizzlies&#8217; desperate push to tie and potentially win the game.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed hidden-lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/twitter\">\n<div class=\"tweet-outer-container\" style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"tweet-container\">\n<div class=\"tweet-body\">&#8216;I&#8217;M HIM&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Austin Reaves letting the world know \ud83d\udde3<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"app-tweet-blockquote\"><p>&#8216;I&#8217;M HIM&#8221;Austin Reaves letting the world know \ud83d\udde3 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9y15iGbAh0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/9y15iGbAh0<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>Reaves is no longer unheralded. He shouted &#8220;I&#8217;m Him&#8221; at the boisterously hostile crowd after scoring on a fadeaway jump shot.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Also read: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/news-austin-reaves-lost-words-getting-massive-appreciation-lebron-james-stuff-like-means-lot-me\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Austin Reaves was lost for words after getting massive appreciation from LeBron James: &#8220;Stuff like that means a lot to me&#8221;<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 8px 21px 0; overflow: visible !important;\">\n<div class=\"bottom-info-container\">\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Michael Macasero<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><template id=\"reply-input-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"reply-section-container\" parent-comment-id=\"\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"pic-near-reply-box\" src=\"\" alt=\"Profile picture\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><br \/>\n<template id=\"gif-box-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script> \nvar fbPixelFired = false;\ndocument.addEventListener(\"scroll\", function() { loadFBPixel() });\ndocument.addEventListener(\"mousemove\", function() { loadFBPixel() });\nfunction loadFBPixel() {\nif(fbPixelFired) {\nreturn;\n}\nfbPixelFired = true;\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? \nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\nn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, \ndocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\nfbq('init', '952063904834769'); \nfbq('track', \"PageView\");\nfbq('track', 'ViewContent');\n}\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/news-i-knew-austin-that-lebron-james-says-knew-austin-reaves-going-massive-part-lakers-first-practice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Austin Reaves, on his playoff debut, turned heads with an incredible performance in Game 1 of the series between the LA Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies. Reaves\u2019 spectacular fourth quarter helped the Lakers steal home-court advantage from the Grizzlies with a 128-112 win. After the game, LeBron James had this to say about the previously unheralded [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[2313,1805,1797,2314,2317,9941,11261,88],"class_list":{"0":"post-27272","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-lebron-james","10":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-nba-players","13":"tag-nba-social","14":"tag-nba-western-conference","15":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}