Reaves not only help Team USA to beat Italy, the message sent to his detractors

Since the moment Team USA revealed that Austin Reaves had been called to be part of the roster for the FIBA World Cup, different NBA fans believed that it was a wasted spot for another 'better' player and that the Lakers guard only got it for being part of the purple and gold franchise.

Reaves hasn't stopped showing he is a real talent and has been a critical piece for Team USA to be at the semifinals and had a chance to contend for the gold in a potential final.

But Team USA and Reaves lost one game and the Lakers player received all the blame and the haters flooded social media with criticism towards the guard. Now Austin has bounce-back against Italy, and in a post-game interview, Reaves sent a pointed message to haters trying to make him lose confidence in his game.

“You man up, you go watch film and you see the stuff that you didn’t do good — obviously struggled guarding the post,” Reaves said when asked how he was able to bounce back from his performance against Lithuania. “My brother’s boy made a couple good moves. You tip your hat, but at the end of the day, you never lose confidence in what you do as a basketball player, and anybody that tries to make me lose confidence, good luck to ’em.”

Austin Reaves continues to improve his game, this time with Team USA

As productive as Reaves was during the 2022-23 regular season, he raised his level of play during the 2023 postseason. His numbers improved mightily, as he averaged 16.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game across 16 playoff games and shot 44.3 percent from behind the three-point arc. Now with Team USA, Reaves continues to show his improvement.