”Need you to win”: Austin Reaves recalls 2-way players begging Lakers to win vs Pacers for over 25% pay raise 

Austin Reaves and the LA Lakers are the recently crowned champions in the first In-Season Tournament after beating the Indiana Pacers on Saturday. He had a great game in the final, scoring 28 points off the bench to help LeBron James and Anthony Davis win the NBA Cup.

The In-Season Tournament was a success, with fans satisfied to see teams compete hard early in the season. With James winning, other stars could be encouraged to do their best and take the new tournament seriously in the future.

The winning team was promised an incentive of $500,000 per player, which would be a significant addition to most salaries. That's especially true for two-way players. They will be getting a 25% increase in pay.

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"Honestly, I still don't know the answer to that question," Reaves said when asked when the team would receive the money. "Someone told me at the latest, we'd get it January 15th, but I don't know."

After winning the cup, Reaves shared that the two-way players were begging the team to win, for them to have the salary increase.

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"All the young guys were running around even before the game, like, 'Please win, please win.' Two-ways were like, 'This is a $150,000 game for us. We need you to win.' I don't know when we get the money, but these guys are super excited."

Throughout the tournament, Reaves was stellar, averaging 15.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists.

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Austin Reaves says winning the NBA Cup "means a lot" to Los Angeles

It's known that Los Angeles is a city that's used to winning. In the history of the NBA, the Lakers are tied with the Boston Celtics for most title wins (17). This further solidifies the identity of the organization in the league.

After winning the first NBA Cup, Austin Reaves shared what it meant to be the first winner of the new tournament.

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“It means a lot. I’ve spoke about it a lot," Reaves said. "Just being able to bring light to kids that had the same situation as I did growing up. You know, for me, being from a small town of 1,100 people, not a lot of people leave that graduate high school. They might go to college and stay there and basically just work their whole life there and find a job around the town that you live in.

"It means a lot. The sports in L.A. is I think second to none. Just to be in a place that loves the game of basketball, one, but sports in general is sweet. Hopefully, we can bring the city championships throughout all sports."

For next season, the Lakers could try to go for another cup with Reaves.

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