Kyrie Irving is one of the more honest and upfront players to ever grace the NBA. If he says something, he means it – no ands, ifs or ors about it.
Austin Reaves burst onto the scene as the Los Angeles Lakers’ Next Big Thing during the team’s recent march to the Western Conference Finals.
Although fans in L.A. had grown familiar with his game last year, the 2022-23 season marked Reaves’ national coming out party.
Over the summer Reaves received a four-year, $54 million contract from the Lakers and was invited to join Team USA.
This week, Irving caught a glimpse of Reaves in action for Team USA and reacted to the 25-year-old immediately.
Kyrie was lovin’ this move from Austin Reaves😂 pic.twitter.com/MGql0QWQNb
— Kyrie Center (@kyriecenterig) August 11, 2023
NBA fans were thrilled to see Irving weigh in. His words carry a lot of weight, and him endorsing Reaves in this fashion was a welcome sight for many.
Now y’all can’t tell me nothing Bron stamped heem and Byrie ? It’s over https://t.co/eS7njoImuC
— slizzy (@hoodieMELL) August 11, 2023
Kyrie knows ball unlike you scrubs https://t.co/eQkssinQWv
— Ati (@Atiknowsball) August 11, 2023
Kyrie Co-sign Reaves might be a future star https://t.co/2ZhA4cTC9r
— Chels Fan (@wandxrs) August 11, 2023
game recognizes game as the kids say nowadays https://t.co/n4rUK3KGIL
— mr. roboto (@kevinterstellar) August 11, 2023
Big picture, Reaves is quietly turning into a huge star. Between his intimate photos with his girlfriend and brutal honesty about the two teams he almost left the Lakers for, fans can’t get enough of him. He goes viral on the regular.
Now comes the hard part – living up to the hype.
Last season everything Reaves did was a cherry on top bonus for the Lakers. They didn’t come into the season heavily relying on him for a big year.
Yikes. Logan Paul may never recover from this. https://t.co/iRjMe9SfQY
— Game 7 (@game7__) August 16, 2023
That changes in 2023-24.
This season, Reaves is being viewed as an instrumental piece of the Lakers’ puzzle.
Will Reaves ultimately be able to justify the faith that Irving and many others seem to have in him? Time will tell.
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