Although the 2023-24 season is still a couple of months away, NBA fans have been getting their basketball fix watching Team USA in exhibition play before the 2023 FIBA World Cup officially tips off.
So far, the United States is a perfect 3-0 in the friendlies with their most recent victory coming against Spain. Spain is one of the contenders to win FIBA, so the U.S. did well to show that they could hang with one of the world’s best teams.
Although the roster doesn’t feature any of the superstars that have participated previously, the group is full of young and talented players. Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves has been one of Team USA’s key pieces off the bench and has drawn praise from peers like Kyle Kuzma.
Reaves has gotten a chance to play against some of the best players internationally, but name dropped an old teammate as the person he’s most looking forward to playing against, via FIBA World Cup:
“Definitely want to play Dennis. Obvious reasons, he’s a really good friend of mine. Obviously he’s going to Toronto next year which I’m kind of sad about but happy for him. But definitely want to compete against him.”
Dennis Schroder had a redemption year for the Lakers after agreeing to come back to the team on a one-year deal the previous summer. The German was a key cog in Darvin Ham’s rotation and went on to help them win several games during their playoff run.
The United States is slated to close their exhibition schedule against Germany on Aug. 20, giving Reaves the chance to play against his former teammate. Schroder has been playing well for his native Germany, but he’s got plenty of help in fellow NBA players Franz Wagner, Moritz Wagner and Daniel Theis.
For Lakers fans, it should be fun to see the two go head to head on the international stage and hopefully it’s the U.S. that ends their exhibition matches on a high note.
Ausitn Reaves says main goal for Lakers is to win a championship
Reaves is gaining invaluable experience playing for the national team as he’s got the opportunity to learn from his teammates and test himself against foreign competition. However, he’ll have more eyes on him during the regular season as Los Angeles is expected to compete for a title.
The Lakers pride themselves on being a championship-or-bust organization, so it was no surprise to hear Reaves reiterate that the goal is to win it all.
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