'Who is No. 12?' NBA is discovering Jake LaRavia, who has found a comfort zone with Lakers

Countless fans around the league this season have found themselves exactly where Anthony Edwards did — asking, "Who is this No. 12 on the Lakers?"

"I heard everything. I heard the dude in the crowd, first off, say 'Who's number 12?' I saw Anthony Edwards do his little throw both arms up, like, 'I don't know,'" the Lakers' Jake LaRavia said of his viral moment. "And then, if you saw the video, I put my arms up at the free throw line, so just kind of like playing along with it.

"But I just find that kind of stuff funny. It's amusing to me. It is what it is. I just continue to do what I do."

What LaRavia does is just hoop.

The rest of the nation is about to see what No. 12 can do up close when the Lakers take on the Clippers Tuesday night on NBA Coast 2 Coast on NBC and Peacock — in what will be a critical NBA Cup game.

It’s all about that fit

What matters for role players in the NBA, as much as talent or skill, is fit.

LaRavia brings a well-rounded and a bit of an old-school game that is a hand-in-glove fit in Los Angeles, where he has quickly become a critical cog in the Lakers' attack. While

"The way that we play, and me being able to play off-ball and read when cut, and just when to space the floor and be able to get catch and shoot 3s, and reading closeouts and stuff like that, I definitely feel very comfortable," LaRavia said.

While he's averaging 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds a game, what makes him invaluable is his willingness to do the little things. He's been a physical and opportunistic defender. He also has consistently played with pace, getting downcourt and finishing plays in transition — occasionally on highlight reel look-ahead touchdown passes from Doncic or Reaves.

Most impressively, he has shown some secondary playmaking skills we haven't seen much from him before.

LaRavia said he played his same game in Memphis and Sacramento (his first stops around the NBA), but the fit is just more natural in Los Angeles. LaRavia's jack-of-all-trades game can get glossed over by scouts and front offices — "But what is he elite at?" — and when the Lakers signed him this summer to fill the shoes of Dorian Finney-Smith, most pundits saw it as a downgrade.

It hasn't been. Not that all those comments ever fazed LaRavia — it's the only way he knows how to play.

"It's kind of just the way I grew up playing," LaRavia said. "I'm from Indiana, kind of Midwest ball, fundamental basketball, cutting, like playing off two feet, all that kind of stuff. It's kind of just, it came, it comes kind of natural."Coming to the big stage of the Lakers — and playing with Luka Doncic and LeBron James — didn't change his game.

"To be honest, like, my, my whole career has kind of been that," LaRavia said. "Just like, even in college, I wasn't the number one scoring option, but I, but I was the guy that kind of was able to complement that number one scoring option [Note: G-League star Alondes Williams led Wake Forest in scoring LaRavia's final year].

"And it's kind of the same thing here. I play, I play so well off of AR, Luka, and Bron to where, if they're not open, I can still be that kind of secondary shot creator. I'm still able to create my own shot, still able to catch and shoot three, still able to drive and attack the paint and get to the rim."

Playing with Doncic, LeBron

LaRavia said the biggest adjustment coming to the Lakers was playing with Doncic, and now LeBron.

"Just playing off-ball so much, the amount of attention that they draw offensively — with their passing ability — just makes the game so much easier," LaRavia said. "My defender is pulled in or guarding him and I can get cuts to the basket, and they can find me. It's like, even when I don't think I'm open, they see it before I'm even there."Like on this play from LeBron's first game back

"It was right out of a timeout, and he literally came up to me," LaRavia said of LeBron. "He told me, he said, 'Just cut behind him.' He said, 'Cut behind him and I'll find you.' So when he got the ball on the post, my guy was just not even looking at me, so I just cut behind him."LaRavia was not even two years old when LeBron made his NBA debut, and getting to play with someone he idolized growing up was special.

"It was dope to finally get on the court with him," LaRavia said. "He brings something to this team that I don't think we really had, just another level of passing ability that he's able to do, and just the force he is on offense, in transition, and when he has the ball in his hands."

What's evident being around these Lakers — something that wasn't always there the past few years — is a genuine connection between the players off the court. These guys like each other.

"The vibes are really high," LaRavia said. “We all get along with each other really well off the court. You see it on the court when we're playing, just what our chemistry is. Yeah, it's a really good group of guys."

NBA Cup

Tuesday night, when the Lakers take the court against the Clippers, it will be a critical NBA Cup game that could decide West Group B — win and the Lakers advance to the quarterfinals, one win away from a trip to Las Vegas for the semifinals and finals. The game is the second of the Coast 2 Coast Tuesday NBA doubleheader on NBC and Peacock.

Don't question the players' motivation for these games.

"I think $500,000 will motivate just about anyone," LaRavia said. "I think half a million dollars is still a good, amount of money to be able to motivate you to want to win games."These NBA Cup games are regular-season games, as well, so there is motivation there already, LaRavia noted, but added that having a target like a mid-season tournament adds a little something.

"It is cool to just be able to play for something in the middle of the season and be able to get a nice little bonus," LaRavia said.

If the Lakers get that bonus, it will be in no small part due to LaRavia finding his role, his comfort zone on a team that needed him.

How to Watch the NBA on NBC and Peacock

Peacock NBA Monday will stream up to three Monday night games each week throughout the regular season. Coast 2 Coast Tuesday presents doubleheaders on Tuesday nights throughout the regular season on NBC and Peacock. On most Tuesdays, an 8 p.m. ET game will be on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones, and an 8 p.m. PT game on NBC stations in the Pacific and often Mountain time zones. Check local listings each week. Both games will stream live nationwide on Peacock. NBC Sports will launch Sunday Night Basketball across NBC and Peacock on Feb. 1, 2026. For a full schedule of the NBA on NBC and Peacock, click here.