LOS ANGELES – As the Los Angeles Lakers prepared to face off against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday, much of the chatter pregame was still on Austin Reaves’ incredible performance from the night before when he dropped a career-high 51 points against the Sacramento Kings in a win. Reaves stepped in in the absence of the Lakers’ main stars in LeBron James and Luka Doncic.

However, during his pregame press conference, Lakers head coach JJ Redick acknowledged that Austin Reaves has just as much say on the team as James and Doncic. In the offseason, one of the ways that Redick challenged Reaves was in taking on more of a leadership role.

“The biggest thing was him taking a step forward as a leader and recognizing that it’s as much his team as it is LeBron’s team or Luka’s team.

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