Austin Reaves Reacts To Lakers Woes, Rift With Darvin Ham (Video)
Austin Reaves Reacts To Lakers Woes, Rift With Darvin Ham (Video)

Austin Reaves came into the 2023-24 NBA season riding high.
Reaves had just inked a four-year, $54 million contract. He was fresh off spending the summer playing international ball and partying it up with his girlfriend. And he, like most fans, thought a big year awaited him.
Unfortunately that hasn’t really come to fruition. After some early-season stumbles, Lakers coach Darvin Ham relegated Reaves to the bench. The former apparently isn’t too fond of the latter, per reports.
Since then Reaves has been trying to play his role as well as possible, but obviously that hasn’t done much to change L.A.’s fortunes.
The team is currently 17-18 and inarguably one of the more disappointing squads in the league this year.
In a session with the media this week, Reaves spoke up regarding how he is feeling in light of all the Lakers’ on-the-court woes and the deepening rift between Ham and the team.
Austin Reaves, asked about continuing to come off the bench as the Lakers have changed their starting lineup, said “winning is all that matters … whatever that role is, I’ve got to go do that to the best of my ability” pic.twitter.com/jXCqEWzhQ7
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 3, 2024
“I get to play basketball for a living,” Reaves said.
“Regardless of what my role is, what they ask me to do, I’m gonna go do it to help our team. That’s all that matters to me … Winning is all that matters.”
Reaves was then asked about what conversations he had with Ham regarding his role on the team going forward.
“I haven’t had any … you know, we have so much change going on because guys have been in and out of the lineup, that you never know what could happen,” Reaves said.
“So you gotta stay mentally locked in for whatever is possible. And that’s kind of anything right now with the guys in and out of the lineup. So, one day could start, one day could come off the bench. At the end of the day, whatever that is, I’ve gotta do it to the best of my ability.”
While Reaves’ patience and big-picture outlook is commendable, it doesn’t change the fact that the Lakers seem to be in trouble. Ham has lost the locker room. And while rumors of a blockbuster trade are circulating, that likely won’t be an antidote to the coaching woes wrecking this team right now.
Olivia Dunne’s Sister Julz Shares Photos In See-Through Shirt: https://t.co/yO0N1kcBSF
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 4, 2024
Los Angeles has seen better days.
Will Reaves, Ham and the rest of the Lakers ultimately be able to get back on the same page before this season is lost for good? Time will tell.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.