LeBron James has had his fair share of big games for Team USA. On Monday, James was a mere spectator just like the rest of us as another Los Angeles Lakers player balled out while wearing red, white, and blue.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves came off the bench for Team USA in their exhibition match against Puerto Rico in Las Vegas. Reaves immediately made an impact once inserted in the first quarter. He started off by draining a corner three-pointer, then called his owner number on an isolation play.
austin reaves legit checked into the game and went on his own 5-0 run and now the entire bench unit looks energized
stop telling us he don’t belong here pic.twitter.com/edHb3csU9J
— Coach Rome (@Rome_Beast) August 8, 2023
Reaves was Team USA’s leading scorer at halftime with 9 points. The first-half flurry from Reaves clearly got LeBron excited. King James sent out a tweet in admiration of his Lakers teammate.
“A-R you so COLD man!!!” said James along with some emojis.
A-R you so COLD man!!! 🫡🙏🏾👑 #TeamUSA🇺🇸
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 8, 2023
Reaves was one of the more polarizing inclusions on the Team USA roster for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. He had a standout campaign for the Lakers last season but lacked the body of work most of his teammates have already put together. Reaves made it over bigger NBA names who would have likely taken his spot if they had the chance.
During that brief stretch on Monday, Reaves looked like he belonged on the international stage. The Lakers guard needs to prove that again once the games start to matter at the FIBA World Cup later this month.
