After what he’s done through the first week of the 2025-26 NBA season for the Los Angeles Lakers, it is hard to deny the stardom of Austin Reaves. While Luka Doncic and LeBron James have been sidelined with injury, Reaves has been putting up MVP-level numbers while leading this Lakers team.
Most recently, Reaves hit a game-winner against the Minnesota Timberwolves, capping off what was a 28-point, 16-assist night. While carrying Los Angeles to a 3-2 record so far, the young star is averaging a league-fourth 34.2 points per game, a league-second ten assists per game, and 5.6 rebounds per game on 52.5% shooting.
After his buzzer-beater, Kenny Smith of Inside the NBA made the bold claim to compare Reaves’ recent run to that of Jeremy Lin with the New York Knicks in 2012.
“You could have a pass and or a shot,” Smith said while breaking down Reaves’ game-winner. “He had both, and said, ‘No, I am the new Jeremy Lin, I am shooting this shot to win.’”
Smith’s cohosts, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Ernie Johnson, were quick to dismiss the parallel, with Barkley giving the nod to Reaves, saying that he’s been good for ‘a few years’.
Yet still, he’s been one of the surprise storylines in the NBA this season, as though he’s shown promise in the past, it is hard to say anyone expected this level of performance from the 27-year-old.
Austin Reaves Given The ‘Linsanity’ Comparison
GettyJeremy Lin, New York Knicks, Madison Square Garden.
While Smith caught flak for his Reaves-Lin comparison, he wasn’t the only one to make the connection. NBA and Lakers insider for ESPN, Dave McMenamin, wrote in a post on X that he feels the correlation is clear, even coming up with his own name for Reaves’ hot start to 2025.
“This week is reaching Linsanity levels for Austin Reaves. Let the Reavesvolution continue,” he wrote. “He hits the game winner at the buzzer to lift L.A. to 116-115 victory in MIN. 28 pts and 16 ast on the night.”
While the ‘Reavesvolution’ isn’t the worst nickname or latest NBA hot streak to replace ‘Linsanity’, the Inside the NBA crew made sure to combat the similarities, regardless of who was making the comparison.
“The Jeremy Lin comp is a little bit of a stretch. How long has this guy been in the league?” Johnson asked. “Jeremy Lin came out of nowhere, (Reaves) has been in the league… That’s not a real comparison.”
Still, Smith held strong with his conviction, calling the Lakers’ star ‘Austin Lin’, while defending his take.
But speaking to the others’ point, while Reaves did drop a career-high 51 points the other night, it isn’t the first time he’s put up strong scoring numbers. He had ten 30-point games last year, averaged 20.2 points across the entire 2024-25 season, and had numerous experiences leading the team’s offense without Doncic or James.
Regardless, Reaves’ astounding start, as seen with players like Isaiah Thomas, has garnered the exclusive ‘Linsanity’ comparison. So far, he’s on pace to make his first All-Star and All-NBA teams, but as seen with Lin, a pace like this is hard to keep up.
Redick And Reaves On His Lakers’ Game-Winner
Capping of the latest installment of the ‘Reavesvolution’ was the rising star’s buzzer-beater over the Anthony Edwards-less Timberwolves. It was the first game-winner of his career, and marked just another moment in his flabbergasting start to the year.
“That guy is going to show up in the big moments,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said after the game. “I’m not surprised. He’s done that many times in his career.”
According to McMenamin, Reaves said he ‘blacked out’ after the shot. Yet still, even with the Lakers outscored by ten in the fourth quarter, they walked away with the one-point win over the team that ended their season in the first round last year.
“Everybody is looking at me, and in those situations, you have to be calm, be confident and lead your guys through [it],” Reaves said after his shot. “We were up [by] 10 [points] or so late, and they went on a run. … It’s hard not to kind of crumble in those situations. But you got to keep energy high, you got to keep the spirit high.”
Reaves himself was still thinking about the postseason series loss to Minnesota. He said after missing a game-tying shot in their arena in April, his floater to close out the game felt good.
“That one felt good,” he added. “But last time we were in this building, I had the shot to tie it in the corner in the playoffs, in Game 4, and missed. Let me tell you, that feeling sucks.”
Linsanity comparison or not, Reaves is single-handedly keeping the Lakers alive to start the year. They’ve had decent showings from Deandre Ayton, Rui Hachimura, and others, but it’s been ‘Austin Lin’ giving Los Angeles hope.
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