"It's not a Mickey Mouse ring" - Lakers guard defends LeBron James against criticism of NBA Bubble championship
LeBron James has faced plenty of criticism throughout his NBA despite his historic career. One of his biggest critiques is his "Mickey Mouse" ring, his fourth and latest championship from the NBA bubble in Orlando.
Austin Reaves came to the defense of James' 2019-20 NBA championship on the BustaJack Golf YouTube channel. He said:
"It's not a Mickey Mouse ring. I think everybody had equal playing field; it's the same as every other year. I just think if (LeBron James) doesn't win, than nobody says anything. ... Everybody loves LeBron, but he gets so much hate (26:15)."
The LA Lakers beat the Miami Heat (44-29) in six games, taking down the Portland Trailblazers (33-39), Houston Rockets (44-28) and the Denver Nuggets (46-27) en route claiming the NBA championship.
LeBron James won his fourth NBA Finals MVP award, averaging 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists in six Finals contests.
Austin Reaves, meanwhile, has developed into one of the Lakers' best players, coming off a career year, averaging 15.9 points, 5.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game, shooting 49% from the field and 37% from beyond the arc.
Austin Reaves discusses infamous LeBron James tweet from 2012
During the 2023-24 NBA season, an old tweet from Austin Reaves surfaced. The tweet was a meme from 2012 that poked fun at LeBron James. The meme read:
"When I need some peace and quiet, I set my phone to LeBron mode, no rings," and featured a photo of Kobe Bryant shrugging.
In the same YouTube video, Austin Reaves commented on how he addressed the surfacing of the old tweet.
"We had a game in New Orleans, I didn't play, I had a hamstring issue. After the game I just got on my phone and I pull up Instagram and the first thing I see is ESPN posted it, it was my tweet. So I was like, 'LeBron come here.' I was like, 'Hey bro, I was a (Kobe Bryant) fan, I was on you,' and he just busted out laughing (27:25 mark)."
Austin Reaves was quick to patch things up with LeBron, adding that the four-time MVP didn't sweat on the tweet.