Austin Reaves has come a long way from a small town in Arkansas to Lakers ‘MVP!’ covered.

Austin Reaves always felt like the moment could wait. The game comes first, the next game has priority.

Reflection is for later.

It’s a mindset that makes none of this ever feel too big, that it’s always been possible for someone from a small farming town to somehow level up with the best basketball players in the world.

As with his unofficial audition with the Lakers at a Las Vegas minicamp, Reaves didn’t stop as he guarded Anthony Davis during the team’s first bowl game.

“In my head it’s like, ‘Boy, are you trying to protect me? You have to switch. Are you serious?'” Davis told the Los Angeles Times. “I get the ball, I support him and he steals it from me .”

But this Sunday night in Los Angeles had to be recognized.

As Reaves led the Lakers through the fourth quarter of a must-win game against the Orlando Magic, he threw the ball into the hoop on a foul. As he bowed and the crowd chanted “MVP,” he looked to the stands to see his best friends of more than 20 years, Trent Swaim and Keaton Wheeler, cheering into the sea of ​​Lakers fans.

“It’s almost too good to be true,” Reaves told The Times.

On Sunday, he scored a career-high 35 points in the Lakers’ 111-105 victory over Orlando, the steadfast security guard from a small-town Arkansas who is the center of attention in Los Angeles and the friends he cares about most. , celebrate with him .

“It’s damn stupid,” Davis said.

Reaves showed off the different parts of his offensive game. He reached the rim, he froze defenders with his footwork, and he created space and then contact to hit the free-throw line 18 times, a career record. The Magic shot just 17 as a team.

Before Reaves thrilled the crowd by doing the seemingly unthinkable, Swaim Reaves impressed by completing the Los Angeles Marathon in 4 hours and 18 minutes despite never having run 42.2 miles before and suffering from leg cramps. the legs for the last six-plus had a mile battle.

After the race, Swaim waddled into Reaves’ house, took a 30-minute shower, and immediately used the muscle recovery kit given to one of the Lakers’ most valuable players.

Somehow he made the match. And somehow he got out of his seat when Reaves left.

“This is Trent’s first time in LA, the first game he’s coming here for,” said Reaves. “So that he and Keaton are here for that… when I got the bucket and it was tied with the minute left, I casually looked at that. And he ran a marathon this morning and came back in pretty bad shape and couldn’t stand.

“But he got up, hands in the air. It was almost too good to be true.”

At this point, all of Reaves’ surprises are likely due to ignorance of his game.

During his time on the team, he developed a strong relationship with Davis and LeBron James, and during that last stretch, while James was on hiatus, he played some of the best offensive basketball players of his NBA career.

His 35-point breakaway follows seven straight games in double digits. Since James was injured three weeks ago in Dallas, Reaves has gone under 13 points just once, beating the Lakers 6-5 in those games.

In what was the most optimistic assessment of all time, pre-game manager Darvin Ham spoke of “when” James would return, with the lack of an “ash” notable.

“Yes, we expect him to come back eventually,” said Ham.

James tweeted de Reaves “A BAD MUTHA…STOP!!!” You are too difficult!!” after the win.

During the game, he smiled as he sat in the chair at the end of the team bench, crossing his legs and folding his arms over his knees, as the crowd serenaded Reaves with “MVP” chants.

“When I heard this crowd singing MVP, the whole stadium shook,” said Swaim. It was something you see… well, I’ve never seen anything like it. It was crazy.”

“Crazy,” Wheeler said, shaking his head.

The win put the Lakers (35-27) back in the top 10 in the west, albeit by a fraction, after losses to Houston and Dallas undermined the momentum the team had been building since the end.

Reaves had to stop that losing streak at just two, scoring 13 points in the fourth, including the last 10 for the Lakers to seal the victory.

The mob informed Reaves that no one was worth more.

“Obviously it’s not MVP caliber, these guys are very good,” he said, “but to do that for me is special, it means a lot to me.”

And it means even more because Reaves’ best friends went through it with him.

“You never want to take it for granted, man, and he never takes it for granted,” Davis said of Reaves. “He loves the game. He lives in the moment.”

And the time on Sunday? It’s one where Reaves allowed himself to live a little longer.