Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves was named to the official 12-member USA Men’s National Team that will compete in the upcoming 2023 FIBA World Cup, set for Aug. 25 – Sept. 10 in Manila, Jakarta, and Okinawa, Japan. The U.S. will face Greece, Jordan and New Zealand in the first round of the Group Phase.
Reaves (6’5”, 206) appeared in 64 games (22 starts) for the Lakers last season, averaging 13.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists while shooting 52.9 percent from the field and 39.8 percent from 3-point range. In the 2023 NBA Playoffs, Reaves posted averages of 16.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists as he shot 44.3 percent from beyond the arc. In 125 career regular season games (41 starts) with Los Angeles, Reaves has averaged 10.2 points (.501 FG%, .363 3P%), 3.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 26.1 minutes per contest.
Reaves was originally signed by the Lakers to a two-way contract after going undrafted out of the University of Oklahoma (2019-21). The Arkansas native was then signed to a standard NBA contract with the purple and gold prior to the 2021-22 NBA season.
The U.S. will open first-round play against New Zealand on Aug. 26, followed by matchups with Greece on Aug. 28 and Jordan on Aug. 30. Team USA will play all group games at Manila’s Mall of Asia Arena. The USA World Cup Team will begin training camp in Las Vegas in early August before playing a series of exhibition games as part of the USA Basketball Showcase. The United States has won the World Cup five times, including in two of the last three editions.