Back in the day, the San Antonio Spurs were one of the NBA’s top teams. They won five world championships between 1999 and 2014, and they always did a good job of finding diamonds in the rough to keep their roster fresh.
One of those diamonds in the rough was guard Manu Ginobili, a second-round draft pick in 1999. He didn’t often start, but he was still one of their most important players as a sixth man, and his production landed him in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
For the Los Angeles Lakers, Austin Reaves became a full-time starter late last season. With the team struggling to start this season, head coach Darvin Ham decided to move him to the bench for Friday’s game against the Phoenix Suns. It ended up paying off, as the Lakers won 122-119 as Reaves had 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting and seven assists.
The undrafted guard still played 35 minutes, and afterward, Ham talked about his thinking behind the lineup change. He said it was about “balancing the units” while using Ginobili as an example.
Darvin Ham on Reaves after the lineup switch, citing the Spurs: “Everyone knew Manu (Ginobili) was a starter – it was more about balancing the units. (Austin) still played 35 minutes. His minutes weren’t going to go down; he’s gonna finish the game. He was huge down the stretch.”
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) November 11, 2023
Cam Reddish took Reaves’ place in the starting lineup, and he played extremely well on both ends of the floor. He shot 5-of-8 from 3-point range, with three of those makes coming in the fourth quarter.
Even though he didn’t start, Reaves was on the floor for every second of the fourth quarter. He has struggled at times to start the season, but he has shown signs of life lately.
