Austin Reaves Finally Breaks His Silence on LeBron James Leaving the Lakers With Heartfelt Instagram Post

LOS ANGELES — More than a day after LeBron James announced he was leaving the Los Angeles Lakers, Austin Reaves finally broke his silence on social media Wednesday evening, posting a heartfelt goodbye to his former teammate that put a complicated five-year relationship publicly to rest.

Reaves posted three images of himself and James sharing the court to his Instagram Stories, offering a brief but warm message to accompany the photographs.

"Thank you for everything," Reaves wrote. "See you on the golf course soon brother!"

The timing of the post drew immediate notice. While several Lakers players had moved quickly to publicly acknowledge James' departure in the hours immediately following his announcement Tuesday, Reaves waited significantly longer before weighing in, a delay that attracted widespread attention given the history between the two camps during the past year.

That history centers on a moment from January that briefly became one of the more awkward episodes in the Lakers' recent season. James' agent, Rich Paul, said on his podcast "Game Over" that the Lakers should trade Reaves to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Jaren Jackson Jr., arguing the move would make Los Angeles a better team. The comment made headlines immediately, drawing a strong enough reaction that Reaves' agent, Reggie Berry of AMR Agency, reportedly approached Paul directly at a game to address the remarks in an extended in-person conversation on the sideline.

James himself subsequently sought to distance himself from his agent's commentary during an interview with ESPN.

"I think you all know by now, Rich is his own man and what Rich says is not a direct reflection of me and how I feel," James said at the time. "And I hope people know that. I hope people know that and if they're not sensible to know that, then I don't know what to tell them."

The episode lingered as an awkward undertone during the second half of the Lakers' regular season, even as James and Reaves continued playing alongside each other for the remainder of the year. Reaves had been one of the Lakers' most consistent performers over the past several seasons, establishing himself as a legitimate starter and a reliable shot-maker who received considerable interest from other teams in trade conversations before the Lakers ultimately kept him. The suggestion that James' agent viewed Reaves as trade bait to upgrade another position on the roster put an unusual public strain on a partnership that had otherwise appeared genuinely warm on and off the court.

Wednesday's Instagram post was the first public acknowledgment from Reaves of James' departure, and his choice to frame the message warmly, referencing golf rather than dwelling on any of the offseason friction, was widely interpreted as a gracious and forward-looking goodbye from a player who spent five seasons as James' teammate, learning from one of the greatest players in basketball history while also carving out his own identity within the organization.

Reaves was not alone among Lakers players in posting tributes following James' announcement. Luka Doncic, who was acquired by the Lakers from the Dallas Mavericks in a blockbuster trade earlier this year and spent only a portion of the season as James' teammate before the star's departure, wrote on his own Instagram that it was an "honor to play with and learn from" James, a sentiment that underscored the breadth of influence James has had across multiple eras of Lakers basketball. Jarred Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia and Jaxson Hayes also published social media tributes to James in the hours following his departure announcement, collectively painting a picture of a locker room that held genuine affection for the 41-year-old even as the organization appeared to have moved on from him.

James spent eight seasons in Los Angeles across two separate stints with the Lakers, bookending a brief return to the Cleveland Cavaliers and preceding what now becomes his next chapter. He won an NBA championship with the franchise in 2020, earning the Bill Russell Finals MVP award, and finished as the NBA's all-time leading scorer during his time in Los Angeles. His career with the Lakers closes as statistically distinguished but arguably underrepresented in championships relative to his individual level of play, with injuries and roster limitations constraining the franchise's ability to put the necessary pieces around him in the latter half of his tenure.

Reaves himself enters the new season having recently locked in his own future with the organization, having re-signed with the Lakers earlier in the offseason on terms that reflected the team's confidence in him as part of their next competitive core. That commitment takes on new meaning now that James has departed, leaving Reaves in a position to step more squarely into a leadership role within the locker room alongside Doncic as the Lakers begin reshaping their identity in the post-James era.

The contrast between Reaves' late acknowledgment and the more immediate posts from other teammates generated significant online commentary, with some observers reading the delay as a subtle nod to the complicated year the two camps had navigated following Paul's trade comments. Others interpreted it more charitably, suggesting Reaves may simply have wanted to take time to craft a message that was genuine rather than reactive, and that his final choice to keep the tone warm and personal reflected well on both players regardless of the delay.

Whatever the motivation behind the timing, Wednesday's post served its purpose, offering a public note of closure on one of the more closely watched partnerships in recent Lakers history and drawing a line under the complicated final chapter of James' time in Los Angeles with the same brevity and warmth that Reaves has brought to most of his public interactions throughout his career in the league.