Los Angeles Lakers forward Jake LaRavia traded the hardwood for the pickleball court and came away with a championship, winning the club’s recently held team tournament.
The event, designed as an in-season bonding session, mixed players and staff members on doubles teams. LaRavia partnered with assistant coach Beau Levesque and finished the bracket unbeaten.
Video shared by the organization features Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes taking part in early rounds. Head coach JJ Redick appears on camera calling the action “competitive” while rallies play in the background.
At one point Dončić jokes that he carried his teammate and later teases Redick for relying solely on power shots. The banter leads into the title match between Dončić’s duo and LaRavia’s pair, where the 23-year-old forward clinches the trophy with several tough returns, including a lunging save that lands just inside the line.
LaRavia signed a two-year, $12 million deal with Los Angeles during free agency and has become a key reserve, supplying perimeter shooting, ball movement and defense for Redick’s bench unit.
LeBron James recently praised Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and LaRavia for strengthening the roster, noting that the added depth allows him to share the workload with Dončić and Reaves.
Source: Lakers Nation
