The Finals of the NBA In-season Tournament have seemingly changed some major tides somewhere. Veteran NBA analyst Skip Bayless, who has always locked horns with LeBron James, suddenly showers his teammate with praise and love.

Now this may not be considered as a compliment to James, but this is as close to a flattering remark as Bayless would get. And the entire reason for this is LeBron James’ undrafted teammate, Austin Reaves.

Did Skip Bayless just subliminally try to compliment LeBron James?

The Los Angeles Lakers have maintained a steady lead while holding off the Indiana Pacers. LeBron James has been pouring in big buckets while also trying to guide Anthony Davis toward the cracks in the Pacers’ defense.

One bright light for the Lakers this game has been none other than Hillbilly Kobe; Austin Reaves. Reaves has come off the bench and turned into an instant scoring plug, firing up the team’s second unit.

This was something even Skip Bayless could not refute. The veteran NBA analyst went to X and tweeted, “Austin Reaves makes the Lakers a legit championship contender. LeBron is so fortunate to have had AR come from nowhere as the NBA’s Brock Purdy — AR undrafted out of OU by way of small-town Arkansas.”

No matter what Skip Bayless may say or feel about LeBron James, he is certainly not wrong here. Apart from LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves has taken quite the offensive load onto his own shoulders.

And he has made sure that the Lakers stay ahead in the game, while the starters hit the bench to catch their breath and revitalize for the remainder of the game.

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Austin Reaves proving his worth

The Los Angeles Lakers front office offered Austin Reaves a big contract this past offseason. While many felt that Reaves deserved that contract, others called out this move to be erratic and foolish. And for the initial month or so of the season, the latter half got the satisfaction of predicting the correct outcome. However, in the past few weeks, Reaves has been a different player for the team.

Since the 6’5 guard moved to the bench, his point production and even his confidence have gone up, which has translated into his game. If Reaves continues to play like this, not only will the Lakers win the NBA Cup, but Reaves will be making his way back into the starting lineup too.

With all that Reaves has shown this season, will he make his first all-star team come February?

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