Los Angeles Lakers players Austin Reaves and Dalton Knecht knew each other before the latter was even drafted by the organization in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft.

In December 2023, when Knecht was in the midst of a shooting slump while playing college basketball at the University of Tennessee, Reaves sent him a direct message and gave him some words of encouragement. It certainly wasn’t the only time they communicated (and it’s unclear if it was the first time), but this particular message is still something Knecht thinks about.

“DK, what’s good, my man?” Reaves sent Knecht a message. ‘Did you just want to reach out and tell me what’s going on? … Make sure we keep tapping into humanity. I’ll be watching and if you ever need anything, let me know. I’m nearby.”

Reaves recently provided some information about the origins of his relationship with Knecht.

“One day I saw him randomly going crazy doing what he did in college and obviously I was very impressed with the way he scores the ball,” Reaves said. “The way he helped his Tennessee team to a lot of wins was special and I would like to show my respect if I really like guys who have a lot of talent, and he is one of those guys. I texted him after the games I watched and congratulated him on the accolades he was giving out. It really is.”

Knecht had perhaps the best performance of any first-year player in the NBA so far on Tuesday night in the Lakers’ NBA Cup victory over the Utah Jazz. He scored 37 points, the most by any rookie in a single game since the start of the 2024-2025 regular season, while shooting 12-of-16 from the field and 9-of-12 from 3-point range.

The 23-year-old’s performance against the Jazz marked his second straight standout performance. Against the injury-ravaged New Orleans Pelicans a few days earlier, he finished with 27 points and buried five threes.

Knecht may be the Lakers’ most reliable three-point shooter to date, if you factor in the impressive combination of efficiency and volume he brings to the ball from deep. He shoots a blistering 46.4 percent from 3 on 4.9 attempts per game.

The Lakers’ decision to draft Knecht with the No. 17 overall pick in June has aged like fine wine after the former Tennessee standout had a rocky start to his first season in the NBA. Knecht has reached double figures in four of the last five games he played for Los Angeles.

He will look to refill the scoring column for the Lakers when the team plays the Orlando Magic on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena. Los Angeles can extend its current winning streak to seven games with a win over the Magic, who are also currently on a six-game winning streak.