Austin Reaves was moved to the bench by Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham in the Phoenix Suns game. The Lakers, who beat the Suns, started D’Angelo Russell, Cam Reddish, Taurean Prince, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Reaves played well for the Lakers against the Suns. In 35 minutes, the guard put up 15 points and seven assists while shooting 6-of-11 from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and 1-of-1 from the free-throw line.
After the Lakers-Suns game, Reaves talked about going to the bench.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Austin Reaves, Los Angeles Lakers Updates
“I’m a competitor,” Reaves said. “Truthfully, don’t want to have that conversation. Would love to have been playing better to not have those conversations, winning as a team. But my parents taught me at a young age that the coach is the coach. And his decision, regardless if you agree with it or don’t agree with it, you respect that. That’s what I did. We had good dialogue back and forth on what we thought we could do to be better as a unit. Winning is the main thing.”
The Lakers improved to 4-5 on the season after beating the Suns.
“I understand. I see the writing on the wall,” Reaves added. “I kind of seen it coming. I haven’t played great. I’ve had games here and there. And as a team, we haven’t played great. Obviously. On this road trip, we were 0-3 until now. And [we] needed to shake things up.”
Reaves, who was a star for Los Angeles in the 2023 playoffs, was compared to San Antonio Spurs legend Manu Ginobili by Ham.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Austin Reaves, Los Angeles Lakers Updates
“Everybody agreed that we needed to change up the music a little bit,” Ham said. “It wasn’t a demotion for Austin. It was just a realignment. If anybody remembers those great San Antonio teams where everyone in the world knew Manu [Ginobili] was a starter. But sometimes to balance out your lineup, you have to put a player of his magnitude in a reserve role so now when the starters go to sit down and take their break, you’re not totally falling off a cliff. You have balance in the second unit.”
Reaves is averaging 13.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists on the season for the Lakers.
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