LOS ANGELES – NBA All-Star voting got underway this past week, and for the Los Angeles Lakers, Austin Reaves has been making the case for being selected to his first All-Star appearance. Reaves is currently sidelined due to a calf injury, but Lakers head coach JJ Redick said that he is day-to-day at this point, as per Dave McMenamin
Following Lakers practice on Monday, JJ Redick spoke about why he feels Austin Reaves is worthy of being named a first time All-Star this season, and what the honor would mean to Reaves.
“I would imagine it would mean a lot, a whole lot to him. He and I have had discussions just about how surreal it is for him to be playing at this level and in this position. I obviously absolutely think he should be an All-Star this year,” Redick said. “You always got to be careful as an athlete, to stop and smell the roses. It’s the nature of competition. When there’s 82 games, there’s not really a time to take your foot off the gas. That’s the offseason.”
“I think he’s the type of player who consistently wants to get better, consistently wants more,” Redick continued. He’s willing to put in the work, and he’s willing to then go out and play hard enough to actually go for more. He’s proven that over and over and over again.”
While Reaves has taken a huge leap this season in terms of his numbers, that ability and potential was something that Redick realized even before he had ever coached him. One of the first things that Redick told Reaves when he first took over as head coach was that this was going to be a legitimate outcome.
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“Our first conversation when I took the job was, ‘you’re gonna be an All-Star,” Redick recalled. “I’m not like going to every player and saying that. I actually said it because I believe it.”
Prior to the calf injury, Reaves had appeared in 21 games at a little over 36 minutes per game. He was averaging a career-high 27.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.0 steals with splits of 50.3 percent shooting from the field, 36.9 percent shooting from 3-point range and 87.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line. His rebounds and assists are also career-highs.
Earlier this season, Reaves dropped a career-high 51 points in a win against the Sacramento Kings, a game in which both LeBron James and Luka Doncic were sidelined. A couple of nights later, he dropped in the game-winner against the Minnesota Timberwolves, another game the Lakers were without their other two stars.
With Reaves being day-to-day, the earliest he could make his return to the lineup would be on Tuesday as the Lakers travel to face the Phoenix Suns. They then return home for a Christmas Day showdown against the Houston Rockets.