Austin Reaves has found a way to describe Luka Doncic’s edge, and it sounds like something straight out of a playground dare.
With the Lakers less than two weeks from opening the 2026-27 NBA season, Reaves said he has even thought about paying fans to needle Doncic from the stands in order to bring out another gear in the star guard.
“I’ve thought about paying people in the stands to just talk crazy to him because he goes to that different level,” said Reaves, per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
That tracks with how Doncic tends to operate. He’s the kind of player who seems to feed off the noise, whether it comes from the crowd or the opponent across from him. Game after game, especially on the road, he can be seen trading words and letting the back-and-forth sharpen his focus.
This season, the Lakers are asking for even more of that version of Doncic. With LeBron James out of the picture, the offense is expected to run through him in a bigger way than ever. At the same time, Los Angeles is counting on Reaves to live up to the max contract he signed this offseason and perform like a true No. 2 on a team with championship hopes.
The roster around them is still a work in progress, though. The Lakers brought in Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, and others, but there are still questions about whether those additions are enough to offset the defensive issues Reaves and Doncic have well documented, along with concerns about the team’s athleticism and shooting.
The Lakers open the season on October 21 at home against the Golden State Warriors.
In Other News...
Jeanie Buss Faces A New Threat To Her Lakers Control
Jeanie Buss has spent years as the face of the Lakers family ownership structure, but now that control is being tested from inside the Buss family itself. As former majority owner and current governor, Buss is caught in a legal dispute with her five siblings over the remaining shares in the family Trust, a fight that goes beyond simple paperwork and straight to who gets to steer one of the leagues most visible franchises.
Her siblings are opposing her petition in court and want the sale of those shares to a new ownership group to move forward, a development that would strip Buss of her governor role if it goes through. The case has turned into a battle over both the future of Lakers control and the distribution of family trust assets, with the next move likely to say as much about the family as it does about the team. [Read more 🡒]
Dalton Knecht Faces Two Huge Lakers Decisions This October
Dalton Knecht enters October with his Lakers future hanging on two separate calendar checkpoints, and both carry real roster implications for a team that has already spent the offseason sorting out its long-term pieces. First comes the opening-night cutdown, when Los Angeles has to trim the roster to 15 players, a process that can force some hard decisions even before the season starts. For Knecht, it is less about whether he belongs in the picture and more about how securely the Lakers want to keep him positioned inside it.
Then comes the contract decision window at the end of the month and into early November, when the Lakers will have to decide whether to pick up his team option for the 2027-28 season. Exercising it would keep his deal moving forward and maintain control over his status, while passing would change the shape of his future in Los Angeles and leave his path toward free agency much more open. For a player who already has two looming dates on the same October calendar, the next few weeks are about more than just surviving roster math. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Wing Suddenly Facing Serious Pressure In New Luka Lineup
The Lakers spent the 2025 offseason reshaping the roster, and the ripple effects are already showing in preseason. After bringing in Luka Doncic and signing Walker Kessler, the team has been working through how the pieces fit, especially on the wing, where JJ Redick is trying to balance new offensive combinations with the defensive demands that come with a deeper group.
In the 2026 preseason, Redick opened with Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle ahead of Austin Reaves LaRavia, a notable shift for a player who started many games last season. It does not settle the rotation by any means, but it does signal that the Lakers are still sorting out who best complements Doncic in the lineup, and the competition at those wing spots looks very real. [Read more 🡒]