If there’s one player that the remaining teams in the 2023 FIBA World Cup must keep an eye on, it’s Austin Reaves. So far, Team USA has been having a great stint, especially after the horrific run in the previous FIBA World Cup tournament that was held. Known as arguably the best country in the sport, it was a bitter pill to swallow when the United States finished at 7th place.
However, Team USA seems of fairly steady path. And chances are they will redeem themselves and win the country’s sixth championship as well. During the group stages, the United States dominated teams like Greece, New Zealand, Jordan, and Montenegro. However, Lithuania was quite a humbling experience. They lost their first game of the tournament against Lithuania 104-110.
During the game, Austin Reaves did not have much of a showing, and Lithuanian star, Vaidas Kariniauskas did not shy away from taunting him over an and-one. Kariniauskas said this after the game, “Nothing personal. It’s just love for the game. I played with his brother last year. I talked with him before the game. Also said it was ‘nothing special’ and just trash talk part of the game.”
Austin Reaves also claimed Kariniauskas didn’t phase him. He said, “It’s basketball… He’s competing, I’m competing. And I don’t feel no type of way about him doing that.” Reaves said he didn’t take it personally. He added, “There’s been many times in my career where people looked at me sideways or done stuff so it’s basketball, and at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.” It comes as no surprise that he reacted this way, especially since trash talk is extremely common in the NBA.
LeBron James praises Austin Reaves’ performance against Italy
Against Lithuania, Austin Reaves had his worst performance yet and he received a lot of criticism from fans on social media. He finished with only 7 points while the rest of his stat line was empty. But he bounced back against the Italians in Team USA’s win during the quarter-finals. He finished with 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists during the game. Reaves also had an impressive putback dunk.
“H.I.M.”
LeBron James reacts to Austin Reaves’ putback dunk on his IG story 🗣 https://t.co/JoifIsIaqj pic.twitter.com/mx7jHl8rex
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 5, 2023
His Los Angeles Lakers teammate, LeBron James was very impressed by it. He shared a video clip of the exact moment the dunk took place and said, “H.I.M.” Team USA has now qualified for the semi-finals and so has Serbia. Both teams are waiting to see who they will face following the remaining quarter-finals matchups.
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