The Los Angeles Lakers picked up a signature win this season by defeating the Denver Nuggets 123-100 on the road last night. The Nuggets have eliminated the Lakers from the Playoffs for two seasons in a row, but with JJ Redick as head coach, the Lakers have picked up two regular season wins over the former champions already.
Redick’s passion for basketball is infecting the Lakers locker room. Everyone can see how much this success means to him, especially after the Lakers shared his incredible post-game speech after the Nuggets win on social media.
“This morning, we talked about going to war – Being willing to die on the court. I was so amped today, I should’ve been able to take a nap. I couldn’t sleep last night, I was up till 5 AM. I couldn’t even nap today.”
“Pre-game, I’m laying on the floor and doing my breathing exercises. I’m envisioning what our team is gonna play like. And you guys went even higher. You went even higher. And frankly, our conviction, and our belief in the gameplan.”
“The bench was great. Everyone contributed. Luka, it’s good to have you back. First-team all-defense. Rui, Vando, Doe, Bron, all of you guys that were on him… Everybody that was on Jokic was awesome tonight.”
“Last thing, we talked all season long about our beliefs and our convictions. Hope that was fun. If we play that hard for the rest of the regular season, we’re going to be just fine. That should build your belief. It built my belief in what we can accomplish. It was awesome.”
Believe in it. JJ has us ready to run through a wall 😤 pic.twitter.com/VYxoZUMEFj
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 23, 2025
JJ Redick has this Lakers locker room dialed in. They have a 14-4 record over the last 14 games, which is the best for any team in the NBA over this same stretch.
What’s insane is that they arguably had the most altered roster after the trade deadline as they lost their defensive anchor Anthony Davis and added an injured Luka Doncic earlier this month.
Despite losing Davis and Doncic not being available or good for his first three games with the franchise, the Lakers seem to keep winning games without missing a beat.
JJ Redick Thinks Playing With Effort Is A ‘Cheat Code’ For Wins
Redick is a very sharp coach and has put his knowledge on display for years through his podcast before getting the Lakers job. Despite his belief in analytics, Redick recently revealed that there’s only one cheat code to win NBA games – effort.
“There’s only actually one cheat code in the NBA and that’s playing hard. If you play hard every night, you have a chance to win. If you don’t play hard every night, you’re probably going to lose…You give yourself a chance to win every night if you play hard.”
Redick has seen this first-hand as he’s been able to maximize what he gets from the margins by instructing his players to play hard all the time.
Even without a center or a rim protector, the Lakers have had a 109.9 defensive rating in February, which is top-four in the NBA over the month. Compared to their season’s defensive rating of 113.9, the improvement is evident. Now that Redick’s system has been absorbed by the core of the rotation, the team is looking dangerous.
If Luka Doncic gets fully integrated and LeBron James continues producing at the level he has this month, this team could be a legitimate title contender as early as the 2025 Playoffs.
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