Lakers News: NBA Twitter Is Loving Team USA-Era Austin Reaves

Los Angeles Lakers starting shooting guard Austin Reaves is impressing hoops heads with his engaging output for Team USA thus far. He was once again a key contributor in the club's third straight "warm-up" exhibition game win, this time a 98-88 effort against Team Spain in Spain, on Sunday. He scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, grabbed two boards, and dished out two dimes.

Reaves is enjoying a heck of a start for Team USA in these warm-up games. Through three exhibition contests so far, he's averaging 10 points on 57.1% field goal shooting, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists off the bench.

To be fair, games actually start to count toward the tournament starting on August 25th, Team USA's first game that matters is the 26th. But the fact that Reaves looks this good this early is pretty encouraging, and the basketball world has noticed.

Check out this excellent drive through a row of Team Spain defenders to carve out an open (ish) floater beneath the bucket:

Austin Reaves pic.twitter.com/oie2YGn9tC
— Joe Viray (@JoeVirayNBA) August 13, 2023

Reaves' passing acumen was also singled out for praise:

AUSTIN REAVES HAS INSANE VISION 👀 pic.twitter.com/9GfWkDo0Vh
— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) August 12, 2023

Longtime Los Angeles fan LakersGuru celebrated Reaves' second-half play as the contest got tenuous:

Idk if y’all paying attention or not but Austin Reaves just decided that TEAM USA isn’t losing to Spain today💯
— 🏆LakersGuru🏆 (@GuruLakers) August 13, 2023

Sportswear merch maker and Lakers super-fan Golden Knight made a comp between Reaves and a certainly Hall of Fame, four-time champion lefty shooting guard:

Austin Reaves plays today 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/QspOobD62R
— GoldenKnight (@GoldenKnightGFX) August 13, 2023

Another Hall of Fame shooting guard a bit closer to Los Angeles fans' hearts was also invoked by another fan:

In 2008, struggling to gain separation from Spain-

Team USA turned to Kobe.

In 2023 (& onward), in a similar position against Span-

Team USA turns to (Hill-Billy) Kobe.

Austin Reaves 🤫
pic.twitter.com/LhIF5njkcU
— Lakers Legacy (@LakersLegacyPod) August 13, 2023

Even 2020 Lakers champion forward Kyle Kuzma, who seems to pay special attention to his old club (he does, after all, live in LA during the offseason) but never overlapped with Reaves on a Los Angeles roster, weighed in:

AR is such a good basketball player
— kuz (@kylekuzma) August 13, 2023

Check out full highlights of Team USA's performance below, via the NBA's official YouTub channel:

Are you following us on Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube yet? Join the conversation as we discuss the latest Lakers news and rumors with fans like you!