LeBron James and Austin Reaves formed a great bond during their time as teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers, but it turns out the former might not have been too pleased about deferring to the latter last season. James became the third option on the Lakers behind Reaves and Luka Doncic, and The Athletic's Law Murray revealed his internal struggle during a Reddit AMA.
"Covering LeBron James last season, he had an internal conflict going on with how much he had to defer to Austin Reaves (even Bron understood that Luka was the top dawg in any circumstance)," Murray stated. "Bron was very pleased with being able to still be the lead option in a postseason setting, particularly a winning one against the Rockets."
Doncic is a generational talent at the peak of his powers, while Reaves is an undrafted guard who has improved with each passing year. It would have been a lot easier to defer to one of them.
As for how James found himself in that position, the Lakers were struggling a bit in the first half of the 2025-26 campaign when he, Doncic, and Reaves were all on the floor together. There was some improvement over time, but it was only when the pecking order changed that they really took off.
It was around March 2026 that Reaves took over as the second option and James, who has now left for the Philadelphia 76ers, settled for third for the first time in his career. The 41-year-old said then that he was willing to sacrifice if it benefited the team. It sure did.
#reaves #lebron
"Covering LeBron James last season, he had an internal conflict going on with how much he had to defer to Austin Reaves (even Bron understood that Luka was the top dawg in any circumstance)," Murray stated. "Bron was very pleased with being able to still be the lead option in a postseason setting, particularly a winning one against the Rockets."
Doncic is a generational talent at the peak of his powers, while Reaves is an undrafted guard who has improved with each passing year. It would have been a lot easier to defer to one of them.
As for how James found himself in that position, the Lakers were struggling a bit in the first half of the 2025-26 campaign when he, Doncic, and Reaves were all on the floor together. There was some improvement over time, but it was only when the pecking order changed that they really took off.
It was around March 2026 that Reaves took over as the second option and James, who has now left for the Philadelphia 76ers, settled for third for the first time in his career. The 41-year-old said then that he was willing to sacrifice if it benefited the team. It sure did.
#reaves #lebron
15 hours ago
