Austin Reaves drops bombshell revelation on 'stealing' final play drawn up for LeBron James

Austin Reaves played the hero on Wednesday at the final play of the Los Angeles Lakers's 115-113 win over the Golden State Warriors. A closely contested game saw Steph Curry and the Warriors go on a fourth-quarter run that included a game-tying three from Curry, but Austin Reaves cemented the win for LA with a game-winning layup.

After the game, Reaves spoke about the win backstage in a video for the Lakers's media day as part of their LA on the Move video series. As it turns out, the game-winning play was drawn up for LeBron James, not him.

Despite that, Reaves went off-script when he saw the chance to hit a game-winning bucket for his team.

"I'm gonna be honest with y'all. That last play was not for me. It was for 'Bron," Reaves said. "But I got the opportunity to go win us a game, and, you know, that's what ended up happening. You know, that's a big win for the team. Huge win. It's Christmas Day."

"I remember growing up watching Christmas Day games with my family. I know my family's back home, sitting around watching the games, opening presents. So this is a big one for me, for us as a team. I'll remember this one for a long time."

Although Reaves kept the game ball, he said he wouldn't keep it and planned to give it to someone in his family.

Lakers coach JJ Redick opens up on Austin Reaves' game-winner on Christmas Day

Austin Reaves's game-winner on Christmas Day put the Lakers (17-13) back in the win column following a narrow 114-117 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Monday. After winning three straight, LA suffered a tough defeat at the hands of the Detroit Pistons on Monday.

Considering Detroit is a 13-17 team and the Lakers have aspirations of making a deep playoff run, the loss was a tough pill to swallow for JJ Redick and his squad. While speaking with media members about what a win on Christmas Day means to him and the team, Redick spoke about Austin Reaves' game-winner:

"The last play was sort of a read for Austin and LeBron at the top, we knew they probably were going to switch and Austin made a good read to just come get the basketball without any timeouts," Redick said.

"LeBron was the first option at the top, and I like the mindset there to not settle and to just go attack the rim, make a play. It was great."

You can check his comments in the video above beginning around the 1:15 mark.

Following their win on Wednesday, the LA Lakers will play the Sacramento Kings on Saturday in a pivotal Western Conference matchup. This tip-off will mark the team's first of four consecutive home games between now and the opening week 2025.