The Los Angeles Lakers were on a roll before injuries sidelined both Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic at the same time. Reaves missed part of the playoff series, while Doncic missed the entire matchup.
On Monday night, the Lakers were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder. It also marked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s highest-scoring game of the series.
“Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, Chet Holmgren made a tiebreaking dunk with 32.8 seconds to play and the Oklahoma City Thunder swept the Los Angeles Lakers out of the second round of the NBA playoffs with a 115-110 victory in Game 4 on Monday night,” ESPN wrote.
At the conclusion of the season, players are often faced with difficult questions about the next step in their careers. While LeBron James is the player drawing the most attention regarding his future, Reaves is not far behind. When discussing his future in Los Angeles, he appeared to brush the topic aside.
“I'm gonna be honest, I've been around for five years and you guys know me pretty well... I don't think about much. I take life day by day and I'm just blessed to play for this organization... I don't think about what I'm gonna do in the future,” Reaves told the media.
For many Lakers fans, it was an odd response regarding his future in Los Angeles, especially considering how strongly he spoke earlier in the year about wanting to spend his entire career with the franchise.
“I try not to think about it. Honestly. I've said it a million times. I want to be in L.A. I love it," Reaves told ESPN. "Even though the other extension was turned down, that doesn't mean that I'm trying to go get a f---ing gigantic number that don't make sense. I want to be here, I want to win. I want to do everything that can help this organization be better. So I don't try to think about those things."
The sudden shift in tone has created some concern about Reaves’ future with the Lakers. Typically, it is not viewed as a great sign when a player avoids directly addressing whether he wants to return to an organization.
Reaves went from sounding fully committed to the franchise’s future to saying he does not think much about what comes next. The season-ending loss may have only added to what could become a very long offseason for Lakers fans.
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