"Turned into D'Angelo Russell": Austin Reaves cops flak after dismal series 

Austin Reaves was touted as the Los Angeles Lakers’ third option behind LeBron James and Luka Doncic by fans and analysts. However, his performance during the first round of the 2025 playoffs did not live up to expectations. Following a 1-4 series loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves, naysayers are criticizing Reaves for his forgettable production across the five games.

Unfortunately, D’Angelo Russell was thrown under the bus, being used as a measuring yardstick by trolls to evaluate Austin Reaves’ subpar display.

“Austin Reaves turned into D’Angelo Russell in this series,” @iDude14 wrote.

“Austin D’Angelo Reaves. Hate to see it!” another user added.

“Austin Reaves went from being best 3rd option n the league to D’Angelo Russell WCF. Smh,” @eekolcastillo compared the two.

“Austin Reaves playing like shit in the playoffs to honor his best friend D’Angelo Russell,” @BigGlayzer00 wrote.

“Austin Reaves turning into playoff D’Angelo Russell is sick tbh,” @IiImoat wrote.

D’Angelo Russell had been subjected to consistent trolling during his recent stint in LA. But the mocking escalated after the Lakers suffered a sweep in the 2023 Western Conference Finals. D’Lo massively underdelivered during that series, averaging just about 6.3 points and 3.5 assists per game on 32.3/13.3/75 shooting splits.

While his 2024 playoff showing was a slight improvement, averaging 14.2 points and 4.2 assists per game wasn't enough to change the narrative, especially as the Lakers were eliminated in the first round.

Reaves was marginally better as compared to Russell’s past postseason performance, averaging 16.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game against the Wolves.

Austin Reaves takes the blame for the Lakers’ loss

Austin Reaves had a disappointing performance, particularly in the do-or-die Game 5 on Wednesday. It appeared as though the pressure got to him, finishing the night with 12 points and 6 turnovers.

During the postgame press conference, Reaves was dejected and acknowledged that his shortcomings cost the Lakers the chance of winning a title.

“I didn’t have the series that I wanted to have. You can point the finger at me. I wasn’t good enough to help us be successful. I wish I coulda done more. I didn’t. I struggled. You live and you learn, and I guarantee that I’ll get back to work this offseason and be better,” Reaves admitted.

Barring the dip in his production during the postseason, Austin Reaves has had a memorable campaign overall. He has averaged career highs across major statistical categories in points (20.2), rebounds (4.5), assists (5.8), steals (1.1) and FT% (87.7%).

As a resultof his perofrmanes, Reaves was also the fifth most voted player for the Most Improved Player award.