Deandre Ayton Sends Strong 3-Word Message to Lakers Star Austin Reaves During Mavericks Game
Ever since Austin Reaves signed with the Los Angeles Lakers as an undrafted player out of the University of Oklahoma in 2021, the talented guard has done nothing but defy the odds and improve from year to year while locking down a starting role with the storied franchise.
As if it wasn’t impressive enough what Reaves has been able to accomplish in Los Angeles, the 27-year-old has taken his game to another level during the 2025-26 NBA season, which is a contract year for him. One Lakers newcomer who is starting to realize just how good Reaves is and how to play with him is center Deandre Ayton.
Lakers’ Deandre Ayton Hilariously Describing Playing With Austin Reaves
The veteran big man opened up about what it has been like playing alongside Reaves this season. He told the Lakers’ rising star:
“You a dawg.”
He had a pretty comical way of describing it after the team got the best of Anthony Davis’ Dallas Mavericks on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, as posted by Khobi Price of the Southern California News Group.
— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) November 29, 2025
“I’m in the pick-and-rolls with him and the fire tends to go from orange to blue,” Ayton said of Reaves. “I was telling him, ‘Yo, I’m starting to know when you want me over there to set the screen.’ You know, I can see the red fire. The red fire means I’m going to play normal and then the blue fire. Blue is hotter than the red fire. So, you tell me? You see the blue fire, don’t go near him. Let him do his thing, and that’s what I did.”
“There were times when he should have gotten some and-ones. He should have got 50. He was making some tough buckets, man, like some mean aggressive buckets under the rim where us trees were down there and he was making some tough baskets. I’m just like, ‘You a dawg.’ I’m running back telling him, ‘You a dawg, like you are making some tough baskets.’ You just got to put your hat off to him. I’ve been seeing it since I got here.”
Along with Reaves taking his game to another level while averaging a career-high 28.5 points per game after 15 appearances so far this season, Ayton has been a breath of fresh air for the Lakers, as he has addressed a need in the paint.
There were a lot of questions about Ayton heading into his stint with the Lakers, as the Portland Trail Blazers bought him out, with no telling if he’d make an impact in Los Angeles.
Fortunately for the Lakers, Ayton has been better than advertised in the early going this season, averaging 15.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, while shooting an impressive 70.7 percent from the field . Ayton’s shooting percentage is the second-best in the league right now behind Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves, who is shooting 72.2 percent from the floor so far this season.
As for Reaves, his career year continues, with 28.5 points per game being the ninth-best total in the league, behind Luka Dončić’s league-leading 35.1. Dončić and Reaves have struck up some incredible chemistry, as the Slovenian superstar has only elevated the play of his star teammate, along with others like Ayton, Rui Hachimura, and Marcus Smart.
After taking down the Mavericks on Friday night, the Lakers are riding a six-game winning streak while sporting a record of 14-4, which has the squad in second place in the Western Conference behind the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder (19-1).
