Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves has become one of the featured players for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup. And although their chase for a championship is over with their semifinals loss to Germany, they still have third place to fight for against Canada. Witnessing the upset loss in the semifinals first hand was former Laker Carmelo Anthony.
Anthony is known for the success he had with Team USA during the prime of his career, so it was only right that he witnessed Team USA playing in person. While he did see a disappointing loss, he also saw an incredible performance from Reaves.
Reaves finished with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-for-5 from 3-point range. It was one of his most efficient and best offensive games of the World Cup, and he was a leader for Team USA off the bench. He was the second leading scorer for the team behind Anthony Edwards.
And on one of his made 3-pointers, Reaves shouted out Anthony while he was in attendance. He did Anthony’s famous 3-point celebration of putting three fingers to his temple after a made three.
Anthony took to social media to respond to the moment and credit Reaves for his performance:
#AR15 🫡 https://t.co/5a51PY0KJw
— Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) September 8, 2023
Austin Reaves hits the Melo celebration right in front of him 👌#FIBAWC x #WinForUSA 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/WA0mz4vCDU
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 🏆 (@FIBAWC) September 8, 2023
It’s a cool moment for both Reaves and Anthony. For the retired veteran, he gets to see the younger generation of players use his celebration and continue to pay tribute to him whenever they’re on fire from beyond the arc.
For Reaves, he got to have a little fun with his celebrations while someone he grew up watching was in attendance. Reaves and Anthony shared the floor during the 2021-22 season when Anthony was in his final NBA campaign and Reaves was in his first.
Seeing Reaves’ development into a Team USA contributor before his third NBA season is another cool layer for Anthony, who saw his very first reps as an NBA player.
Pau Gasol visits with Team USA
One of the all-time great international players in league history — Pau Gasol — visited Team USA ahead of their matchup with Germany. And although they would eventually end up losing, Gasol had positive things to say about the roster and what he saw from them.
Gasol, who has always been someone to enjoy international basketball, then stayed and watched both semifinal games.
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