Lakers’ Austin Reaves Reveals the Year He ‘Finally Stopped Hating’ LeBron James

The Los Angeles Lakers have high hopes for the upcoming 2024-25 campaign, and with players like LeBron James and Austin Reaves leading the way, it’s easy to see why. Reaves has quickly become one of James’ most trusted teammates on the Lakers, and the pair, alongside Anthony Davis, will likely play a huge role in determining how successful the Lakers will be next season.

While Reaves and James are now fairly friendly, Reaves was not a fan of James for most of his life. The talented fourth-year forward hilariously revealed this recently, also saying that his hatred for LeBron waned when the star forward faced Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant in the NBA Finals.

“I asked LeBron a lot of questions. More than he wanted to, to be honest. But when you’re playing the greatest of all time, how do you not try to get information out of him? I asked him what his best year was, not in terms of championships, but in terms of peak athleticism, skill, and knowledge. For me, his best year was the year they lost to KD and Steph in the Finals. That was the year I finally stopped hating him.” – Austin Reaves, BustaJack Golf

Austin Reaves Would Want LeBron James Even More If They Win a Title Together

Not everyone is a fan of James’ greatness, and for a time, even his teammate Reaves was against him. Of course, that was before the two joined forces in the NBA, and now they’re determined to work together to bring the Larry O’Brien Trophy back to Los Angeles.

It certainly won’t be easy, but the Lakers have a strong collection of talent on their roster, and with guys like Reaves working behind James, they’ll be a tough team to beat all season long. LeBron and Reaves are already buddies, but if they want to take their relationship to the next level, winning a title together would certainly help.

Owen Crisafulli is a senior editor and NFL leader at ClutchPoints, who also covers the NBA and MLB. He recently earned a master’s degree in business administration from Nichols College. Before that, he earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management, ran his own website, and had writing credits at FanSided and Basketball Network.