LeBron and Anthony Davis joke about their Austin Reaves jealousy

Lakers second-year guard Austin Reaves put on a performance for the ages on Sunday to keep Los Angeles’ postseason hopes alive.

Once notorious for that meme with Lebron, Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves is now hooping like an All-Star, putting up a career-high 35 points in a crucial victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday.

With LeBron still sidelined due to his foot injury and Anthony Davis struggling to run the offense against Orlando, Reaves came off the bench and led the Lakers to a narrow 111-105 victory that puts the team into the playoff picture.

Hilariously dubbed “Hillbilly Kobe” by Skip Bayless, Reaves did in fact channel some of that Mamba mentality in the the final minutes of the game, outscoring the Magic 10-5 with less than two minutes left to go.

Reaves also did well to draw fouls toward the end, shooting 8-for-10 from the foul line, and his ability to get free throws was not lost on his star teammates.

Throughout the season, LeBron and Davis have apparently joked about Reaves’ sly ability to earn foul calls and said after the win:

LeBron and Anthony Davis want to learn from Austin Reaves after Lakers win

It makes sense for LeBron to want to get to the free throw line more often, but given Davis’ less than stellar free throw conversion percentage, the big man might want to focus on other parts of his game.

Reaves, for his part, has studied players like James Harden and Trae Young who have become infamous for drawing fouls in the league. In total, Reaves sank 16 free throws on Sunday, joining Lou Williams as the only other player to score 16 free throws off the bench for the Lakers franchise.

The 24-year-old guard ended up tipping the scales at the Crypto.com Arena and gave L.A. a 61-26 bench advantage. Having dropped critical points against the Houston Rockets this past week, the Lakers got their morale-boosting victory against the Magic and are currently tied for ninth in the West with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Los Angeles hardly looks like serious playoff contenders this season and will be anxiously awaiting the return of LeBron — in the meantime, Reaves is trying his best to carry the team, one free throw at a time.