Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves was very much impressed with how Asian basketball has grown in just less than a year since he first got to see them play during the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Manila.

Just a couple of days ago, Japan almost beat France in the group stage of the 2024 Paris Olympics with the hosts barely escaping with a 94-90 overtime win.

Not too long ago it was actually Gilas Pilipinas which pulled off a shocker, defeating world No. 6 Latvia, 89-80, in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Reaves, who was back in the country after being introduced as the newest brand ambassador of Arena Plus, said that these games just showed that basketball is not entirely about the more flashy statistics like points, rebounds or assists, but also on how to play the game the right way – something that the Asian teams have been doing to hold their own against the global superpowers.

"I watched the Japan game and you can see they played the game the right way. I said multiple times, you all know basketball, it's not always about the points and rebounds and it's all about the little stuff and the role players do to help the team be successful," Reaves told select members of the press at the Shangri-La The Fort in Bonifacio Global City on Saturday, Aug. 3.

More than the talent, Reaves said the formula to winning is always on how much the players have bought into the goal of winning.

"If you have a group of guys that have bought into winning together, it's much easier to win or compete at a high level," said Reaves who was part of Team USA that placed fourth in the FIBA World Cup last year along side current holdovers Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton.

"Like I said they know the game the right way, play the right way and it's really a beautiful thing to watch," he added.