Even though they’re no longer teammates, Lakers star guard Austin Reaves carries with him a major lesson he learned from LeBron James.
Reaves, who’s now the Lakers’ longest-tenured player after James’ departure for the 76ers as a free agent this offseason, was teammates with the league’s all-time leader scoring for five seasons (2021-26).
James famously took Reaves under his wing after the Lakers signed the guard to a two-way contract after he went undrafted in 2021.
Reaves signed a standard NBA contract with the Lakers just before the start of training camp entering the 2021-22 season.
Only Anthony Davis (296) played more combined regular season and playoff games as a teammate of James’ than Reaves (284) during James’ eight seasons in L.A.
The time Reaves and James spent as teammates allowed for Reaves to pick up on one of the key aspects of the NBA as he becomes the Lakers’ unquestioned co-star behind superstar guard Luka Doncic: The work that’s required to stay healthy and be available to your teammates for an entire season.
“One of the biggest things I learned from LeBron was what he did every single day to give [himself] the opportunity to still play this game at the highest level,” Reaves said. “There’s a lot more that goes into it than the casual fan sees. You have to do more every single day, especially the older you get. He’s a perfect example of that.”
James’ longevity is unmatched.
He holds the NBA’s records for most regular season games played (1,622), most playoff games appearances (302), most regular season minutes played (61,030) and most (12,446).
And James is still going, entering an unprecedented 24th NBA season after leading the Lakers to a first round playoff series victory over the Rockets in the spring.
This is the kind of example that was set for Reaves for five years.
In the spirit of taking care of his body, Reaves will have his own trainer starting this season: Former Lakers strength and conditioning coach Ed Streit, as first reported by The Athletic.
Streit worked for the Bulls from 2015-17, eventually joining the Lakers in 2019 as an assistant strength and conditioning coach.
He was promoted to the franchise’s head strength and conditioning coach ahead of the 2023-24 season before departing the Lakers last year.
Streit is expected to be on the Lakers’ staff similar to how James’ longtime personal trainer, Mike Mancias, was on the Lakers’ staff as an athletic trainer/athletic performance liaison.
“I’ve had a really good summer,” Reaves said. “Put myself in a really good spot going into this year.”
The Lakers will need Reaves to not only be more available but also more durable after signing a four-year, $180 contract with the franchise.
Even though Reaves played at an All-Star level in 2025-26, he’s coming off playing a career-low 51 games because of a Grade 2 left calf strain that sidelined him for 1 ½ months (late December-early February) and a Grade 2 oblique strain that had him out of the lineup for the final five games of the regular season and first four games of the playoff series against the Rockets.
Reaves returned for the Lakers’ final six playoff games before they were swept in the second round by the Thunder.
Improved durability should help the 28-year-old maintain his performance in the postseason after injuries have hampered his last two playoff appearances.
He averaged 20 points, 5.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds during the playoffs, but shot just 40.7% from the floor and 25.7% on 3-pointers.
That came a year after he averaged 16.2 points (41.1% shooting, 31.9% on 3-pointers), 5.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in the Lakers’ five playoff games during the 2025 first round loss to the Timberwolves while he dealt with a toe injury.
