Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images
Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves is collecting plenty of keepsakes from the first NBA playoffs run of his career.
Following his team’s 111-101 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, Reaves said he absorbed multiple blows to his face during the game:
Harrison Faigen @hmfaigen
Austin Reaves, asked how many times he was hit in the face tonight.
“I think three? Maybe four? I’ll be all right. I’m getting used to it.”
This has been a running theme throughout the 24-year-old’s time on the Lakers.
“He’s been hit in the face more than any rookie in the league, I’m sure,” then-teammate Rajon Rondo said in October 2021. “We’ve got to get him a facemask and mouthpiece soon, but like I said, he’s just fearless, man. He plays the right way.”
In February, Reaves kept playing after getting inadvertently elbowed in the face by the Golden State Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga:
Spectrum SportsNet @SpectrumSN
Austin Reaves on his focus in the fourth quarter when he was guarding Klay Thompson, Kuminga’s elbow to his face and more. pic.twitter.com/ybKk3sGxDE
Reaves is showing this postseason he’s more than a scrappy energy guy. Through three games against the Grizzlies, he’s averaging 16 points on 51.4 percent shooting, including 41.7 percent from beyond the arc.
The 6’5″ wing’s willingness to put his body on the line is part of his game, though, and it immediately earned the respect of his teammates.
For the sake of preserving his long-term health, Reaves might want to start putting his own safety first a little more.