Austin Reaves admits to getting emotional after game-winner vs. Warriors

After hitting the game-winning shot against the Warriors, Austin Reaves admitted to getting emotional about his journey with the Lakers and his memorable Christmas Day moment.

There are few spotlights bigger in an annual NBA calendar than Christmas Day. In fact, outside of perhaps the NBA Finals, no day has more eyes on it on the schedule than Dec. 25.

Add in the fact that this year’s Lakers-Warriors matchup was likely one of the final meetings between LeBron James and Steph Curry and even more focus was placed on the game.

All of that makes Austin Reaves’ game-winner as memorable a moment as he may have in the NBA and one of the best moments in the league’s lengthy history on Christmas Day.

Reaves is a passionate player who isn’t afraid to show his excitement on the court. Hell, he burst onto the national scene after screaming “I’m Him” during the playoffs against the Grizzlies.

What he typically isn’t, though, is an emotional person, by his own admission. But after the final buzzer on Wednesday, Reaves had a moment to reflect on what had taken place and admitted to a brief wave of emotion.

“I’m not really an emotional person,” Reaves said, “but when I was doing radio out there, sitting on the scorer’s table…there was a quick second where I thought I might tear up. That doesn’t happen a lot. But it’s Christmas. I know my parents are back home watching. I know my brother’s probably up in Germany right now…All my people back home are locked in, sitting around with family watching the game and that means a lot to me.

“I say it all the time. I’m not necessarily supposed to be in this position. I got lucky, got my foot in the door and took advantage of an opportunity. Now, I’m sitting here on Christmas with a game-winner and a triple-double.”

Honestly, it’d be abnormal if he didn’t get a little emotional about what happened. In a LeBron James-Steph Curry showdown, it was Reaves who not only got the last laugh but held his own as well.

The last laugh was no fluke, either. In a play that both head coach JJ Redick and Reaves confirmed was drawn up for LeBron, Reaves recognized the Lakers had no timeouts, came to the ball and made a play.

“When I caught it, five seconds is a long time when it comes to basketball,” Reaves said. “The last thing you want to do is go too early, something happen – miss, go out of bounds – and then you give Steph an opportunity to chuck one from 85 feet. That’d be a horrible way to lose. So, I really just wanted to get the last shot, wanted to get a good look.“

Fortunately for him, Andrew Wiggins used up all of his remaining skill in the 2022 playoffs and Jonathan Kuminga made one of the most confounding defensive decisions of the year, allowing Reaves to win the game.

Reaves has long established himself in the NBA and has had many big moments on big stages. But Wednesday’s Christmas Day winner will long be remembered as one of the best moments of his career. And it serves him right to be a little emotional about that.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.